AMERICAN    CRISIS    BIOGRAPHIES 

Edited  by 
Ellis  Paxson  Oberholtzer,  Ph.  D. 


Gbe  Hmerican  Crisis  Biographies 

Edited  by  Ellis  Paxson  Oberholtzer,  Ph.D.  With  the 
counsel  and  advice  of  Professor  John  B.  McMaster,  of 
the  University  of  Pennsylvania. 

Each  1 2 mo,  cloth,  with  frontispiece  portrait.  Price 
$1.25  net;  by  mail,  $1.37. 

These  biographies  constitute  a  complete  and  comprehensive 
history  of  the  great  American  sectional  struggle  in  the  form  of  readable 
and  authoritative  biography.  The  editor  has  enlisted  the  co-operation 
of  many  competent  writers,  as  will  be  noted  from  the  list  given  below. 
An  interesting  feature  of  the  undertaking  is  that  the  series  is  im 
partial,  Southern  writers  having  been  assigned  to  Southern  subjects  and 
Northern  writers  to  Northern  subjects,  but  all  belong  to  the  younger 
generation  of  writers,  thus  assuring  freedom  from  any  suspicion  of  war 
time  prejudice.  The  Civil  War  is  not  treated  as  a  rebellion,  but  as  the 
great  event  in  the  history  of  our  nation,  which,  after  forty  years,  it 
is  now  clearly  recognized  to  have  been. 

Volumes  in  the  Series  : 

Abraham  Lincoln.     By  ELLIS  PAXSON  OBERHOLTZER. 
Thomas  H.  Benton.      By  JOSEPH  M.  ROGERS. 
David  G.  Farragut.      By  JOHN  R.  SPEARS. 
William  T.  Sherman.      By  EDWARD  ROBINS. 
Frederick  Douglass.      By  BOOKER  T.  WASHINGTON. 
Judah  P.  Benjamin.      By  PIERCE  BUTLER. 
Robert  E.  Lee.     By  PHILIP  ALEXANDER  BRUCE. 
Jefferson  Davis.      By  PROF.  W.  E.  DODD. 
Alexander  H.  Stephens.      BY  Louis  PENDLETON. 
John  C.  Calhoun.     By  GAILLARD  HUNT. 
"  Stonewall"  Jackson.     By  HENRY  ALEXANDER  WHITE. 
John  Brown.     By  W.  E.  BURGHARDT  DUBOIS. 
Charles  Sumner.     By  PROF.  GEORGE  H.  HAYNES. 
Henry  Clay.     By  THOMAS  H.  CLAY. 
William  H.  Seward.     By  EDWARD  EVERETT  HALE,  JR. 
Stephen  A.  Douglas.     By  PROF.  HENRY  PARKER  WILLIS. 
William  Lloyd  Garrison.     By  LINDSAY  SWIFT. 
Raphael  Semmes.     By  COLYER  MERI WETHER. 
Daniel  Webster.     By  PROF.  FREDERIC  A.  OGG. 
Ulysses  S.  Grant.     By  FRANKLIN  SPENCER  EDMONDS. 


AMERICAN    CRISIS    BIOGRAPHIES 


Ulysses  S.  Grant 


By 
FRANKLIN  SPENCER  EDMONDS 

Author  of  "  History  of  the   Central  High  School 

of  Philadelphia"  "A  Century's  Progress 

in  Education,"  etc. 


PHILADELPHIA 

GEORGE  W.  JACOBS  &  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


COPYRIGHT,  1915,  BY 
GEORGE  W.  JACOBS  &  COMPANY 

Published  May, 


All  rights  reserved 
Printed  in  U.  S.  A. 


To  H.  E. 

whose  devotion  to  his  adopted 
country  in  the  War  for  the 
Union  has  been  an  inspiration 
to  those  who  have  come  after  him 


340216 


PREFACE 

AMID  the  multitude  of  biographies  of  General 
Grant,  written  in  the  main  by  those  who  knew  him 
with  some  degree  of  intimacy,  the  appearance  of 
another  may  seem  to  demand  explanation,  and  even 
apology.  I  cannot  lay  claim  either  to  participation 
in  the  stirring  history  of  his  times,  or  to  personal 
acquaintance  with  my  subject ;  but  each  generation 
requires  the  service  of  its  own  historians  and  biog 
raphers,  in  order  to  bring  the  message  of  the  past 
to  bear  on  the  present ;  and  this  book  is  the  result 
of  an  honest  attempt  to  record  a  life  that  is  full  of 
significance  for  our  own  era. 

The  time  has  now  come  when  the  great  struggle 
for  national  existence,  known  as  the  American  Civil 
War,  can  be  studied  without  passion  or  prejudice. 
Within  the  last  few  years,  many  volumes  of  personal 
reminiscences  and  letters  have  appeared,  and  the 
correspondence  of  the  leaders  on  both  sides  has  been 
made  available.  The  primary  sources  of  informa 
tion,  therefore,  are  approaching  completion.  Even 
with  this  wealth  of  material,  it  has  not  always  been 
easy  to  determine  the  exact  truth  with  reference  to 
some  of  the  facts  of  Grant's  life.  His  public  record 
was  made  in  a  time  of  bitter  partisanship,  when  few 
were  willing  to  state  fairly  the  point  of  view  of  their 


4  PEEFACE 

opponents.  Moreover,  his  own  writings  are  some 
times  of  little  assistance  to  his  biographer,  not  be 
cause  of  inaccuracy  or  distortion,  but  for  limitations 
in  subject.  While  the  "  Personal  Memoirs"  will 
always  rank  as  a  military  classic,  yet  his  letters, 
although  numerous,  give  little  explanation  of  the 
genius  of  the  man.  From  early  manhood,  he  had 
learned  to  disregard  popular  clamour,  and  even 
when  the  leader  of  a  great  national  party,  he  rarely 
deigned  to  explain  his  actions,  or  to  palliate 
hostile  criticism.  In  his  most  intimate  conversa 
tions,  he  almost  never  discussed  himself.  What  he 
had  done  or  what  he  had  seen,  he  could  describe 
with  a  vivid,  terse  accuracy  ;  but  subjective  analysis 
did  not  interest  him,  nor  did  he  realize  how  valu 
able  it  might  be  to  those  who  would  seek  to  inter 
pret  his  life.  While  his  reticence  concerning  him 
self  has  added  to  the  difficulties  of  the  biographer, 
yet  it  is  hoped  that  from  the  wealth  of  supplementary 
material,  substantial  accuracy  has  resulted. 

Many  have  assisted  in  the  preparation  of  this 
book,  including  some  of  the  fast-decreasing  group 
of  Grant's  comrades,  and  their  courteous  and  gener 
ous  interest  is  here  gratefully  acknowledged. 

The  frontispiece  has  been  taken  from  a  photo 
graph  by  F.  Gutekunst,  made  in  the  month  of  the 
Appomattox  Campaign. 

F.  S.  E. 
March,  1915. 


CONTENTS 

CHRONOLOGY 7 

I.    EARLY  LIFE 11 

II.    AT  WEST  POINT         ....  30 

III.  ELEVEN  YEARS  IN  THE  ARMY    .        .  50 

IV.  THE  YEARS  OF  UNFULFILLED  PROMISE  73 
V.    THE  NATIONAL  CRISIS         ...  88 

VI.    THE  FIRST  BATTLES — FORT  DONELSON  109 

VII.    THE  CORINTH  CAMPAIGN— PITTSBURG 

LANDING 132 

VIII.     VICKSBURG 155 

IX.    CHATTANOOGA 189 

X.    WITH  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC    .  209 

XI.    PETERSBURG  AND  APPOMATTOX         .  241 

XII.    RECONSTRUCTION         ....  274 

XIII.  EIGHT  YEARS  AS  PRESIDENT      .        .  293 

XIV.  THE  CLOSING  YEARS  .        .        .        .317 
XV.    GRANT— THE  MAN       ....  335 

APPENDIX   A.     Letters  of  Grant  and 
Sherman,  March,  1864      .         .         .352 


6  CONTENTS 

APPENDIX  B.     The  Official  Orders  in 
May,  1864 356 

APPENDIX  C.    Coucludiug  Correspond 
ence  Between  Grant  and  Lee     .         .     362 

BIBLIOGRAPHY    .        .        .        .        .     367 
INDEX  .  .        .     370 


CHRONOLOGY 

1821,  June  24 — Marriage  of  Jesse  Root  Grant   and  Hannah 

Simpson. 

1822,  April  27 — Birth    of    Ulysses     Simpson    Grant    (Hiram 
Ulysses),  at  Point  Pleasant,  Ohio. 

1823 — Kemoval  to  Georgetown,  Ohio. 

1836-7 — Spends  winter  at  Maysville,  Kentucky,  attending  the 
Seminary. 

1838-9— Attends  boarding  school  at  Ripley. 

1839— Appointed  to  United  States  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point. 

1843 — Graduated  from  Academy,  and  commissioned  as  Brevet 
Second  Lieutenant  in  Fourth  United  States  Infantry. 
Service  at  St.  Louis. 

1844— Service  at  Natch  itoches. 

1845 — Engagement  to  Miss  Julia  Dent.  Service  at  New  Orleans 
and  Corpus  Christi. 

1846 — War  with  Mexico, — Palo  Alto,  Resaca  de  la  Palma.  Ap 
pointed  Quarter-Master  and  Commissary  of  regiment. 
Monterey. 

1847 — Vera  Cruz,  Cerro  Gordo,  Contreras,  Cburubusco,  Molino 
del  Rey,  and  Chapul tepee.  Occupation  of  Mexico  City. 

1848 — Peace  with  Mexico.  Return  home  and  marriage  (August 
22).  Ordered  to  Sacketts  Harbor. 

1 849-51 — Garrison  duty  at  Detroit.     Return  to  Sacketts  Harbor. 
1852 — Ordered  to  Pacific  via  Panama.     Cholera  en  route. 
1852-3— Service  at  Fort  Vancouver. 

1853-4 — Service  at  Fort  Humboldt.     Resignation  from  army. 
1854-60— With  family  at  St.  Louis,— farming,  real  estate,  etc. 


8  CHRONOLOGY 

1860-61 — In  the  leather  business  at  Galena,  Illinois. 

1861— Presides  at  Union  meeting  in  Galena.  Serves  as  clerk  in 
office  of  Adjutant-General  of  Illinois.  Appointed  Colonel 
of  the  Twenty-First  Illinois.  Marches  into  Missouri. 
Appointed  Brigadier-General  of  Volunteers.  In  com 
mand  at  Ironton,  Jefferson  City,  Cape  Girardeau  and 
Cairo.  Seizure  of  Paducah.  First  battle  at  Belmont 
(November). 

1862 — Capture  of  Fort  Henry.  Surrender  of  Fort  Donelson 
(February).  Appointed  Major-General  of  Volunteers. 
Battle  of  Pittsburg  Landing  (April).  Capture  of  Corinth. 
In  command  of  Department  of  Tennessee.  Battles  of 
luka  and  Corinth.  Advance  on  Vicksburg. 

1863 — Capture  of  Arkansas  Post.  Attempts  upon  Vicksburg. 
Seizes  Bruinsberg,  Port  Gibson  and  Grand  Gulf.  Bat 
tles  of  Raymond,  Jackson,  Champion's  Hill,  and  Big 
Black.  Investment  of  Vicksburg.  Surrender  (July  4). 
Appointed  Major-General  in  the  Regular  Army.  Injured 
at  New  Orleans.  Placed  in  charge  of  Military  Division 
of  the  Mississippi.  Chattanooga  relieved.  Battles  of 
Lookout  Mountain  and  Missionary  Ridge  (November). 

1864— The  Meridian  Expedition.  Appointed  Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral  of  the  Armies  of  the  United  States  (March).  The 
general  advance  (May).  Battles  of  Wilderness,  Spottsyl- 
vania,  North  Anna  and  Cold  Harbor.  The  crossing  of 
the  James  River.  Petersburg  besieged.  The  Shenan- 
doah  Campaign.  Successes  of  Sherman,  Sheridan  and 
Thomas. 

1865— Capture  of  Fort  Fisher.  Sherman's  march  through  the 
Carolinas.  FortStedman.  Battle  of  Five  Forks.  Peters 
burg  and  Richmond  evacuated.  Appomattox  (April  9). 
Assassination  of  Lincoln.  Johnston  surrenders  to  Sher 
man.  End  of  the  War.  Inspection  of  Southern  States. 

1866 — Appointed  General  of  the  Armies  of  the  United  States. 
1867 — Appointed  Secretary  of  War  ad  interim. 

1868— Nominated  for  the  Presidency  (May).  Elected  (No 
vember). 

1869 — Inaugurated  as  President.  Difficulties  with  Cabinet  and 
Appointments.  "  Black  Friday." 


CHEONOLOGY  9 

1870 — Break  with  Sumner  over  San  Domingo  Treaty.     Ratifica 
tion  of  Fifteenth  Amendment. 

1871 — Treaty  of  Washington  over  Alabama  claims. 

1872 — The  Geneva  Award.     The  Liberal  Movement.     Renomi- 
nation  and  Reelection. 

1873— Inaugurated  a  second  time.     The  Virginius  affair.     Panic 
of  1873. 

1874— Veto  of  Inflation  Act. 

1876— The  Centennial  Celebration.     The  Hayes-Tilden  Elec 
tion.     The  Electoral  Commission. 

1877— Hayes  inaugurated.     On  Tour  of  the  World,  from  May, 
1877,  to  September,  1879. 

1880— The  Third  Term  Movement.     "The  306."     Invests  in 
Grant  and  Ward. 

1883— Injured  by  fall  on  ice. 

1884— Failure  of  Grant  and  Ward.     Writes  articles  for  Century 
Magazine.     Suffers  from  cancer  of  throat. 

1885 — Restored  to  rank  in  Army,  as  retired  General.     Com 
pletes  "  Personal  Memoirs."     Death  (July  23). 

1897— Remains  removed  to  Mausoleum  on  Riverside  Drive, 
New  York  City. 


ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 


CHAPTER  I 

EARLY  LIFE 

"  COMRADES,  having  been  compelled,  as  often  I 
have  since  my  arrival  in  San  Francisco,  to  utter  a 
few  words  not  only  to  ex-soldiers,  but  to  all  other 
classes  of  citizens  of  our  great  country,  and  always 
speaking  without  any  preparation,  I  have  neces 
sarily  been  obliged  to  repeat,  possibly  in  not  the 
same  words,  but  the  same  ideas.  But  the  one  thing 
I  want  to  impress  on  you  is  that  we  have  a  country 
to  be  proud  of,  to  fight  for,  and  die  for  if  necessary. " 

These  simple  words  were  addressed  by  General 
Grant  to  a  vast  audience  of  war  veterans  filling 
every  corner  of  the  Academy  of  Music  in  Philadel 
phia,  on  December  12,  1879,  which  had  assembled 
to  bid  him  welcome  home  from  a  tour  of  the  world. 
A  distinguished  ex-governor  of  the  Commonwealth, 
then  the  Commander- in-Chief  of  the  Grand  Army 
of  the  Republic,  presided  over  the  meeting  ;  the 
governor  had  delivered  an  eloquent  address  of  wel 
come.  The  guest  of  the  evening  was  no  orator,  but 
on  many  occasions  he  showed  his  command  of  plain 


12  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

and  effective  words,  and  this  time,  impressed  with 
the  unusual  spirit  of  the  occasion,  he  spoke  from, 
the  heart.  He  described  the  influence  of  war  upon 
the  growing  boy,  who,  without  any  exciting  cause, 
would  probably  have  stayed  by  his  father's  home 
and  followed  his  father's  pursuit,  but  who,  aroused 
by  the  principles  of  the  great  conflict,  had  gone 
forth  into  a  wider  life,  and  when  the  war  was  over, 
without  any  diminution  of  his  love  for  the  old  home, 
had  then  struck  out  for  new  fields,  and  thereby  had 
become  a  pioneer  in  trade  and  commerce. 

In  referring  to  the  opportunity  and  change  which 
the  Civil  War  had  brought  into  the  life  of  the  coun 
try  lad,  General  Grant  might  have  referred  appro 
priately  to  his  own  career.  There  is  probably  no 
actor  in  that  stormy  period,  whose  outlook,  ambi 
tions,  hopes  and  prospects  were  altered  more  com 
pletely  by  the  great  conflict  than  his.  The  drama 
of  life  offers  many  curious  contrasts,  but  none  more 
effective  than  that  which  shows  him  in  1861,  as 
drifting  through  life,  unable,  after  many  trials, 
without  family  assistance  to  make  a  living  for  his 
household  and  himself,  and  then — four  years  later 
— presents  him  the  idol  of  the  nation,  having 
achieved  a  world-wide  renown — with  the  greatest 
political  prospects  within  his  reach.  When  his  op 
portunity  came,  he  was  ready,  and  so  his  is  the 
well-earned  prize,  but  it  is  not  too  much  to  say  that 
if  there  had  been  no  American  crisis  culminating  in 
Civil  War,  the  world  never  would  have  heard  of 
Grant,  and  the  literature  of  American  life  would 


EAELY  LIFE  13 

have  lacked  one  of  its  most  interesting  and  effective 
illustrations. 

Ulysses  Simpson  Grant  was  born  April  27, 1822,  at 
Point  Pleasant,  Ohio,  his  parents  being  Jesse  Boot 
and  Hannah  Simpson  Grant.  In  his  "  Memoirs,7' 
he  states  that  "My  family  is  American  and  has 
been  for  generations,  in  all  its  branches,  direct  and 
collateral." 

For  eight  generations  the  history  of  the  Grants  is 
the  typical  record  of  a  pioneer  family.  iS  1630 
Matthew  Grant  and  Priscilla,  his  wife,  with  an  in 
fant  daughter,  sailed  from  Plymouth  in  the  four- 
huudred-ton  boat,  Mary  and  John,  under  Captain 
Squib.1  After  a  voyage  of  seventy -one  days,  they 
arrived  at  Nantasket  and  settled  at  Dorchester, 
south  of  Boston.  They  were  a  part  of  the  large 
Puritan  migration  to  New  England.  In  1631,  Mat 
thew  Grant  was  admitted  as  a  freeman  of  Dor 
chester,  but  five  years  afterward  he  removed  the 
family  home  to  Windsor,  Conn.,  where  he  lived 
until  his  death,  serving  in  various  positions  of 
honor  as  the  first  surveyor  of  the  town,  town  clerk, 
etc. 

"  He  was  a  prominent  man  in  the  church,"  says 

1  Whether  Matthew  Grant  was  of  Scotch  descent,  owing  alle 
giance  to  the  clan,  whose  famous  motto  "  Stand  Fast,  Craig 
Ellachie  "  is  exemplified  strongly  in  the  lives  of  some  of  his 
descendants,  or  whether  he  was  an  English  yeoman  of  Puritan 
proclivities,  it  is  now  impossible  to  determine.  Jesse  R.  Grant 
thought  he  was  of  Scotch  descent,  but  as  Matthew  Grant  came 
from  the  southwestern  part  of  England,  it  is  difficult  to  under 
stand  just  how  there  could  have  been  a  strong  Scottish  element 
in  his  blood. 


14  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

Dr.  Styles  of  the  progenitor  of  the  Grant  family, 
"and  evidently  was  just  aud  conscientious  in  all  his 
public  and  private  transactions  and  duties ;  as 
Eecorder  he  often  added  notes  explanatory  or  in 
correction  to  the  records,  which  have  considerable 
value  to  the  investigator  of  the  present  day.  He 
was  the  compiler  of  the  old  church  record.  .  .  . 
In  short,  he  was  a  pious,  hard-working,  conscien 
tious  Christian  man  and  a  model  town  clerk. " 

Matthew  Grant  seems  to  have  had  a  high  degree 
of  tenacity  in  asserting  his  views  and  in  maintain 
ing  what  he  conceived  to  be  right.  A  controversy 
arose  in  the  church  in  1668,  because  a  portion  of  the 
members  desired  to  leave  their  first  pastor  and  or 
ganize  a  separate  parish  under  a  popular  preacher. 
A  town  meeting  was  called  at  which  a  vote  was 
secured  in  favor  of  giving  the  new  minister  a  hear 
ing,  but  Matthew  Grant  refused  to  enter  the  pro 
ceedings  of  the  meeting  upon  the  records  ;  where 
upon  the  entry  appears  on  the  books  in  a  strange 
hand  and  beneath  was  a  protest  by  the  town  clerk, 
as  follows  :  "This  is  a  proviso  :  I  here  express 
to  clear  myself  from  having  any  hand  in  assenting 
to  the  warning  of  the  town  meeting,  so  called,  as 
George  Griswold  has  entered  in  this  book,  Aug. 
the  8th,  '68,  for  he  and  some  others  came  to  (my) 
house  after  they  had  been  together,  and  desired  me, 
being  the  town  recorder,  to  enter  their  town  vote, 
made  this  day,  that  Mr.  Woodbridge  shall  have  the 
liberty  to  preach  on  the  Sabbath.  I  told  him  I 
would  not  have  no  hand  in  the  business  nor  enter 


EAELY  LIFE  15 

their  vote.  Then  he  desired  ine  to  let  him  have  the 
town  book,  wherein  I  used  to  enter  such  things. 
He  being  a  townsman  I  laid  the  book  upon  the 
table,  and  there  he  wrote  himself  what  is  entered  by 
his  own  hand.  This  I  certify. 

"  MATTHEW  GRANT. 
"  Augt.  17,  1668." 

Matthew  Grant  was  twice  married  and  left  several 
children,  of  whom  the  oldest  son  was  Samuel,  born 
in  Dorchester  in  1631.  His  son  was  Samuel,  Jr., 
born  in  Windsor  in  1659,  dying  in  1710.  His  son, 
Noah  Grant,  was  also  born  in  Windsor  in  1692  and 
died  in  1727.  His  widow  afterward  married  Peter 
Buell  and  so  brought  about  a  relationship  between 
the  Grants  and  the  family  of  Don  Carlos  Buell,  the 
contemporary  of  General  Grant  in  the  Civil  War. 

The  fifth  generation  was  represented  by  Noah 
Grant,  2d,  who  was  born  in  Tolland,  Conn.,  in 
1718  and  was  a  scout  and  soldier,  being  appointed 
captain  in  the  French  and  Indian  War.  He  took 
part  in  a  number  of  military  engagements  around 
Lake  George  and  Lake  Champlain,  serving  with  the 
famous  scout,  Eogers,  and  Israel  Putnam  and  John 
Stark,  until  in  1756,  when  he  went  out  in  a  scouting 
party  and  was  returned  as  "absent. "  While  he  was 
probably  killed,  yet  no  letters  of  administration 
were  granted  on  his  estate  until  1774.  His  son, 
Noah  Grant,  3d,  was  also  born  in  Tolland,  Conn., 
in  1748.  He  took  the  field  after  the  battle  of  Lex 
ington,  was  originally  commissioned  as  a  lieuten- 


16  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

ant,  and  served  until  the  end  of  the  Eevolutionary 
War  as  a  captain.  About  1790  he  emigrated  from 
Connecticut  to  Westmoreland  County,  Pa.,  near 
Greensburg,  about  twenty  miles  from  Pittsburgh. 
Here  he  married  a  second  time  and  after  a  few  years 
set  out  for  the  Western  Keserve,  locating  at  first  in 
Liverpool,  Columbiana  County,  O.,  but  removing 
in  1800  to  Deerfield,  Portage  County.  The  last 
years  of  his  life  were  spent  with  his  son  Peter  at 
Maysville,  Ky.,  where  he  died  in  1820.  A  part  of 
his  large  family  settled  south  of  the  Ohio  River, 
and  several  of  his  grandchildren  fought  with  the 
Confederates  in  the  Civil  War. 

Jesse  Eoot  Grant,  the  oldest  son  of  the  second  mar 
riage  of  Captain  Noah,  was  born  in  Westmoreland 
County,  Pa.,  in  1794,  and  was  named  after  the  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Superior  Court  of  Connecticut.  Sev 
eral  years  of  his  youth  were  spent  with  the  family 
of  Judge  Todd  at  Youugstown,  O.  In  1812  he 
removed  to  Maysville,  where  he  learned  the  tanning 
business  in  association  with  his  half-brother.  In 
1815  he  opened  a  tannery  at  Deerfield,  O.,  but  as 
there  was  not  much  business  at  this  location,  he 
moved  three  years  later  to  Eavenna,  the  county 
seat  of  Portage  County.  Here  he  experienced  fever 
and  ague  and  had  a  number  of  business  reverses, 
whereupon  he  removed  to  Point  Pleasant  County, 
on  the  banks  of  the  Ohio  Eiver,  about  twenty -five 
miles  southeast  from  Cincinnati.  He  again  estab 
lished  a  tannery,  and  as  business  prospered  so  that  he 
could  maintain  a  home,  he  decided  upon  matrimony, 


EAELY  LIFE  17 

and  on  June  24,  1821,  he  married  Hannah  Simpson, 
the  second  daughter  and  the  third  child  of  John 
Simpson,  who  had  been  born  and  brought  up  in 
Montgomery  County,  Pa.  Her  father  was  a  highly 
respectable  farmer  of  American  ancestry  for  several 
generations.  The  family  had  recently  removed  to 
Ohio.  Jesse  B.  Grant  thus  described  his  wife : 
"At  the  time  of  our  marriage,  Mrs.  Grant  was  an 
unpretending  country  girl ;  handsome  but  not  vain. 
She  had  previously  joined  the  Methodist  Church  ; 
and  I  can  truthfully  say  that  it  has  never  had  a 
more  devoted  or  consistent  member.  Her  steadi 
ness,  firmness  and  strength  of  character  have  been 
the  stay  of  the  family  through  life.  She  was  always 
careful,  and  most  watchful  over  her  children,  but 
never  austere,  and  not  opposed  to  their  free  partici 
pation  in  innocent  amusements." 

The  home  at  Point  Pleasant  was  a  small  one- 
story  frame  cottage  situated  near  the  northern  bank 
of  the  Ohio  Eiver.  After  the  great  fame  came  to 
the  child  which  it  sheltered  in  early  life,  the  house 
was  removed  and  has  since  been  preserved  at  Colum 
bus,  O. ,  on  the  state  fair  grounds.  It  was  here  that 
the  oldest  son,  Ulysses  Simpson  Grant,  was  born. 
In  1823  the  Grants  removed  from  Point  Pleasant  to 
Georgetown,  the  county  seat  of  Brown  County,  O., 
where  the  father  started  again  with  a  small  tannery 
and  after  a  few  months  built  a  modest  two-story 
brick  house  which  was  paid  for  that  summer  from 
the  profits  of  the  business. 

"  I  continued  on  in  this  way,"  writes  Jesse  Grant, 


18  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

"  improving  a  little  every  year.  Two  years  after  I 
built  my  house,  I  added  a  kitchen  in  the  rear,  and 
a  few  months  later,  when  the  increase  of  my  family 
required  and  my  means  justified  it,  I  built  a  large 
house  in  front.  My  object  was  not  to  get  rich,  but 
to  make  my  family  comfortable  and  contented,  and 
to  train  up  my  children  for  usefulness.  Early  in 
the  year  1839,  when  my  oldest  son  was  nearly  seven 
teen  years  of  age,  he  told  me  he  could  never  follow 
the  tanning  business ;  that  he  did  not  like  it.  I  told 
him  that  whatever  he  expected  to  follow  through 
life  he  should  engage  in  now,  and  not  waste  his 
early  life  in  learning  a  business  he  did  not  intend 
to  follow.  Among  other  preparations  for  life  he 
desired  an  education.  Although  my  business  had 
been  good  and  reasonably  successful,  yet  I  did  not 
feel  able  to  support  him  at  college.  So  I  suggested 
West  Point ;  that  met  his  approbation,  and  I  made 
application,  and  by  the  veriest  accident  in  the  world 
I  obtained  the  appointment  for  him." 
^  In  1841  he  sold  out  the  business  at  Georgetown  and 
formed  a  partnership  with  E.  A.  Collins  to  conduct 
the  leather  business  at  Galena,  111.  After  several 
years  of  success  in  this  partnership,  Jesse  K.  Grant 
retired  from  business  in  1854  with  a  competency. 
His  later  years  were  spent  in  Covington,  Ky.,  where, 
during  the  presidency  of  his  distinguished  son,  he 
served  as  postmaster  of  the  town.  The  secret  of 
his  success  may  be  summed  up  in  his  own  words  : 
1 '  Preferring  to  do  a  sure  business  to  a  large  one,  I 
worked  on  such  means  as  I  had,  and  never  involved 


EAELY  LIFE  19 

myself  in  debt.  Soon  after  I  commenced  business 
at  Point  Pleasant,  General  Lytle,  of  Cincinnati,  of 
fered  me  an  empty  tannery  he  had  in  that  city,  and 
agreed  to  furnish  all  the  means  necessary  to  carry 
it  on,  but  I  was  afraid  to  take  the  responsibility, 
and  adhered  to  my  first  policy  of  a  sure  thing  rather 
than  a  large  one.  The  man  who  did  take  the  place 
retired  ten  years  ago  on  a  fortune  of  a  million  dol 
lars.  I  kept  on  in  a  moderate  way,  supporting  my 
family  well,  teaching  them  the  practical  lessons  of 
life,  and  fitting  them  for  future  usefulness.  If  I  had 
taken  the  General's  tannery,  I  should,  no  doubt, 
have  come  into  possession  of  a  sudden,  overgrown 
fortune,  and  spoiled  my  children.  As  it  was,  when 
I  was  old  enough  to  retire,  my  boys  were  fully  quali 
fied  to  take  my  place,  and  I  have  the  consolation  of 
knowing  that  I  have  educated  my  children  all  well, 
and  have  made  them  all  moderately  wealthy,  be 
sides  knowing  that  they  are  all  doing  well  for 
themselves."  l 


1  Summary  of  family  : 

1st.  Matthew  Grant— Born  1601,  England  ;  died  1681,  Wind 
sor,  Conn. 

2d.  Samuel— Born  1631,  Dorchester,  Mass.  ;  died  1718, 
Windsor,  Conn. 

3d.     Samuel,  Jr.— Born  1659,  Windsor,  Conn.  ;  died  1710. 

4th.  Noah  (I)— Born  1693,  Windsor,  Conn.  ;  died  1727, 
Toll  and,  Conn. 

5th.  Noah  (II),  (Captain)— Born  1718,  Tolland,  Conn.  ; 
lost  1756,  near  Fort  William  Henry. 

6th.  Noah  (III),  (Captain)— Born  1748,  Tolland,  Conn.  ; 
died  1819,  Maysville,  Ky. 

7th.  Jesse  Root— Born  1794,  Westmoreland  County,  Pa.  ; 
died  June  29,  1873,  Coviugton,  Ky.  Married  Hannah  Simpson 


20  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

Jesse  E.  Grant  was  a  successful  pioneer.  He  rec 
ognized  the  business  needs  of  the  new  community 
and  adapted  himself  to  supply  them.  Thrifty,  al 
though  not  penurious  in  personal  life,  and  a  good 
bargainer,  he  had  little  difficulty  in  supporting  his 
growing  family  and  in  accumulating  a  competency 
for  his  own  old  age.  But  he  was  not  regarded  with 
universal  favor  by  his  neighbors.  He  was  disputa 
tious,  and  fond  of  an  argument,  somewhat  clever 
with  his  pen,  but  vain  of  his  own  cleverness.  Hia 
Southern  neighbors,  of  whom  there  were  many,  re 
garded  him  as  radical  in  his  Northern  sympathies, 
and  even  his  friends  criticized  his  oft-expressed 
pride  in  his  children,  especially  his  first-born.  To 
those  who  were  accustomed  to  deal  with  the  stern 
realities  of  life  on  the  edge  of  the  wilderness,  it 
seemed  sentimental  and  foolish  to  waste  time  and 
maybe  warp  nature  by  talking  of  " My  Ulysses" 
and  what  he  might  accomplish  ! 

Hannah  Simpson  Grant  is  an  illustration  of  the 
familiar  rule  that  the  strongest  qualities  of  success 
ful  men  are  derived  from  the  mother.  She  was  the 
descendant  of  a  long  line  of  Pennsylvania  pioneers, 
probably  Irish  in  origin,  and  illustrated  the  best 
traditions  of  her  race.  That  she  was  a  remarkable 
woman  is  the  universal  testimony  of  her  neighbors. 
"  His  mother  at  that  time  was  about  thirty  years  of 


— Born    November  23,  1798,  Montgomery  County,  Pa.  ;  died 
May  11,  1883,  Jersey  City,  N.  J. 

8th.     Ulysses  Simpson— Born  April  27,  1822,  Point  Pleasant, 
Ohio  ;  died' July  23,  1885,  Mt.  McGregor,  N.  Y. 


EARLY  LIFE  21 

age,"  writes  Daniel  Ammen,  a  playmate  of  Ulysses, 
* '  above  medium  height,  graceful  in  manner,  gracious 
to  children,  neat  in  person,  and  kept  the  children 
neatly  clothed,  which  was  rather  unusual  in  that 
part  of  the  world  at  that  time.  In  after  years,  the 
General  told  me  that  he  had  never  seen  his  mother 
shed  a  tear.  She  had  a  cheerful  countenance,  a 
kind  word  to  all,  and  in  my  eyes  was  very  hand 
some,  and  in  reality  certainly  was  at  least  very  pre 
possessing  and  agreeable. "  She  could  endure,  with 
out  complaint ;  she  could  work,  without  chattering  ; 
she  could  govern  with  firmness,  without  appeal  to 
fear.  Later  in  life,  the  neighbors  said  of  Grant, — 
"  He  got  his  sense  from  his  mother." 

To  this  father  and  mother  there  were  born  six  chil 
dren,  of  whom  the  subject  of  this  biography  was  the 
first.1  He  was  named  Hiram  Ulysses,  after  a  family 
consultation  which  has  something  of  simple  romance. 
When  the  baby  was  a  few  weeks  old,  the  mother 
went  on  a  visit  to  her  father's  home,  ten  miles  away, 


1  Ulysses  Simpson  (Hiram  Ulysses)— Born  April  27,  1822 ; 
died  July  23,  1885. 

Samuel  Simpson— Born  September  23,  1825,  at  Georgetown, 
Ohio ;  died  September  13,  1861,  near  St.  Paul,  Minn. 

Clara  Rachel— Born  December  11,  1828,  Georgetown,  O.; 
died  March  6,  1865,  Covington,  Ky. 

Virginia  Paine— Born  February  20,  1832,  Georgetown,  O.  ; 
Married  Abel  R.  Corbin  ;  died  March  28,  1881,  Jersey  City, 
N.  J. 

Orvil  Lynch— Born  May  15,  1835,  Georgetown,  O. ;  died 
August  4,  1881,  Elizabeth,  N.  J. 

Mary  Francis— Born  July  30,  1839,  Georgetown,  O. ;  married 
Rev.  Michael  John  Cramer;  died  January  23,  1898,  Carlisle, 


22  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

to  exhibit  her  first-born.  While  there,  a  family 
council  was  called,  to  name  the  child.  The  grand 
father,  John  Simpson,  suggested  Hiram  as  a 
proper  Scriptural  name  ;  an  aunt  advocated  Theo 
dore,  which  was  with  her  a  favorite  name ;  two 
members  of  the  circle  urged  Albert  in  recogni 
tion  of  Albert  Gallatiu,  always  a  strong  favorite  in 
the  West,  although  then  in  the  evening  of  his  years  ; 
the  grandmother  favored  Ulysses,  suggested  to  her 
from  the  recent  reading  of  a  translation  of  Fenelon's 
"Telemaque."1  Tradition  says  that  these  names 
were  written  on  slips  of  paper  and  placed  in  a  hat,  and 
that  the  name  Ulysses  was  drawn,  although  afterward 
Hiram  was  added,  in  deference  to  the  grandfather. 
This  quaint  tale  resulted  in  many  a  heartburn,  not 
unnatural,  to  the  child  thus  baptized.  In  the  simple 
life  of  the  West,  a  classical  name  seemed  ridiculous 
and  absurd.  In  boyhood,  natural  abbreviations 
were  soon  invented, — "Lys"  or  "  Useless"  or 
"  Hug  "  from  the  initials.  It  was  not  until  the 
owner  had  given  honor  to  the  name  that  the  habit 
of  ridicule  was  overcome. 

When  Ulysses  was  one  year  old,  his  father  moved 
his  family  fifteen  miles  east  of  Point  Pleasant,  to 
Georgetown,  a  small  hamlet  located  on  one  of  the 
many  tributaries  of  the  Ohio  Eiver,  about  ten  miles 

1  "  Your  father,  Ulysses,  is  the  wisest  of  mankind,  his  heart  is 
an  unfathomable  depth  ;  his  secret  lies  beyond  the  line  of  sub 
tlety  and  fraud  ;  he  is  the  friend  of  truth  ;  he  says  nothing  that 
is  false,  but  when  it  is  necessary  he  conceals  what  is  true  ;  his 
wisdom  is,  as  it  were,  a  seal  upon  his  lips,  which  is  never 
broken  but  for  an  important  purpose." 


EAELY  LIFE  23 

above  the  main  stream.  Here  the  tanner  reestab 
lished  his  home  and  business,  and  here  the  busy, 
happy  years  of  childhood  were  spent.  At  first,  there 
were  scarcely  a  dozen  families  in  the  place,  but  there 
was  rapid  growth,  and  as  the  population  increased, 
Jesse  Grant  advanced  in  prosperity,  until  he  became 
one  of  the  important  citizens  of  the  place. 

Many  of  the  traditions  of  childhood  have  been 
preserved,  but  for  most  of  them  it  is  difficult  to  find 
absolute  proof.  In  his  " Memoirs,"  Grant  said: 
"  In  my  early  days,  every  one  labored  more  or  less, 
in  the  region  where  my  youth  was  spent,  and  more  in 
proportion  to  their  private  means.  It  was  only  the 
very  poor  who  were  exempt.  While  my  father  car 
ried  on  the  manufacture  of  leather  and  worked  at 
the  trade  himself,  he  owned  and  tilled  considerable 
land.  I  detested  the  trade,  preferring  almost  any 
other  labor ;  but  I  was  fond  of  agriculture,  and  of 
all  employment  in  which  horses  were  used.  "We 
had,  among  other  lands,  fifty  acres  of  forest  within 
a  mile  of  the  village.  In  the  fall  of  the  year  chop 
pers  were  employed  to  cut  enough  wood  to  last  a 
twelvemonth.  When  I  was  seven  or  eight  years  of 
age,  I  began  hauling  all  the  wood  used  in  the  house 
and  shops.  I  could  not  load  it  on  the  wagon,  of 
course,  at  that  time,  but  I  could  drive,  and  the 
choppers  would  load,  and  some  one  at  the  house  un 
load.  When  about  eleven  years  old,  I  was  strong 
enough  to  hold  a  plough.  From  that  age  until 
seventeen,  I  did  all  the  work  done  with  horses,  such 
as  breaking  up  the  land,  furrowing,  ploughing  corn 


24  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

and  potatoes,  bringing  in  the  crops  when  harvested, 
hauling  all  the  wood,  besides  tending  two  or  three 
horses,  a  cow  or  two,  and  sawing  wood  for  stoves, 
etc.,  while  still  attending  school.  For  this  I  was 
compensated  by  the  fact  that  there  was  never  any 
scolding  or  punishing  by  my  parents  ;  no  objection 
to  rational  enjoyments,  such  as  fishing,  going  to  the 
creek  a  mile  away  to  swim  in  summer,  taking  a 
horse  and  visiting  my  grandparents  in  the  adjoining 
county,  fifteen  miles  off,  skating  on  the  lake  in 
winter,  or  taking  a  horse  and  sleigh  when  there  was 
snow  on  the  ground." 

Of  these  early  days,  a  few  incidents  may  be  nar 
rated,  of  higher  credibility  than  many  of  the  legends 
which  surround  early  greatness,  because  of  the  light 
which  they  cast  upon  personality.  Thus,  when  the 
child  was  three  years  old,  a  neighbor  fired  a  pistol 
close  to  his  ear,  and  was  greatly  pleased  at  the  glee 
of  the  youngster,  who,  with  the  joy  of  childhood,  de 
manded  "  Do  it  again/' 

He  had  a  wonderful  love  for  horses,  and  would  as 
a  child  play  with  the  teams  at  the  tannery,  swinging 
upon  their  tails,  riding  bareback,  etc.,  and  later  he 
mastered  the  difficult  art  of  standing  barefoot  upon 
a  sheepskin  strapped  on  the  horse's  back,  while 
driving  at  a  fast  gallop.  When  he  was  eight  years 
old,  his  father  sent  him  to  buy  a  horse  from  Ealston, 
a  farmer,  and  with  his  usual  keenness  at  a  bargain, 
Jesse  told  his  son  to  offer  twenty  dollars,  and  then 
twenty-two-fifty,  and  if  absolutely  necessary  to  get 
the  horse,  twenty-five  dollars.  When  Ulysses  ar- 


EARLY  LIFE  25 

rived  at  the  farm  Ralston  asked  him, — "  How  much 
did  your  father  tell  you  to  pay  ?  "  To  which  the 
boy  replied  naively, — "He  told  me  to  offer  you 
twenty  dollars,  and  if  necessary,  tweuty-two-fifty, 
and  rather  than  return  without  the  horse,  to  offer 
twenty -five  dollars."  It  is  needless  to  say  that  the 
highest  figure  was  paid,  and  the  story  caused  a  gen 
eral  laugh  in  the  village  at  the  simplicity  of  Jesse's 
favorite  son.1 

When  Ulysses  was  about  twelve,  his  father  was 
awarded  the  contract  to  build  the  county  jail  at 
Georgetown.  This  necessitated  the  hauling  of  logs 
and  other  building  material,  and  the  son  worked  as 
a  teamster  in  fulfilment  of  the  plan.  It  was  two 
miles  from  the  woods  to  the  site,  and  as  the  logs 
were  a  foot  square  and  fourteen  feet  long,  the  load 
ing  required  the  aid  of  strong  men.  One  day,  when 
rain  was  threatening,  the  wood-cutters  did  not  re 
port  in  the  forest,  and  Ulysses  found  himself  alone. 
Instead  of  driving  back  for  a  holiday  or  asking  for 
assistance,  he  took  advantage  of  a  fallen  maple, 
used  it  as  an  inclined  plane,  hitched  his  horse  to  the 
logs,  and  dragged  them,  one  by  one,  up  the  plane 
until  they  could  be  pushed  on  his  cart,  and  so  alone 
completed  the  job  ! 

This  was  a  fine  training  for  practical  life,  and 

1  It  is  regrettable  that  some  of  Grant's  political  biographers 
have  ruined  this  characteristic  story,  in  the  desire  to  puff,  by 
manufacturing  a  rejoinder  to  the  farmer  by  the  boy  that  al 
though  his  father  had  authorized  him  to  pay  twenty-five  dol 
lars,  he  felt  that  the  horse  was  not  worth  more  than  twenty,  and 
would  give  that  amount  and  no  more. 


26  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT, 

well  does  his  career  illustrate  that  there  is  no  better 
schooling  than  that  which  is  afforded  by  the  every 
day  problems  of  pioneer  life,  where  the  mind  is 
trained  to  quick  thinking,  and  the  body  is  urged  to 
fulfil  the  command  of  the  will.  But  this  sturdy 
out-of-doors  life  was  not  the  only  education  which 
the  boy  received.  A  small  brick  schoolhouse  stood 
on  a  hill  about  three  hundred  yards  from  the  court 
house,  near  the  home  of  the  Grants,  and  here  John 
D.  White,  whose  son,  Chilton  White,  was  after 
ward  congressman  from  the  district,  maintained  a 
subscription  school.  It  was  a  wholesome  school, 
although  the  curriculum  was  not  elaborate.  "I 
never  saw  an  algebra,  or  other  mathematical  work 
higher  than  the  arithmetic,  in  Georgetown,  until 
after  I  was  appointed  to  West  Point,-'  said  Grant  in 
the  "  Memoirs. "  One  teacher  taught  all  grades  and 
subjects  and  maintained  order  and  discipline  in  the 
orthodox  and  not  ineffective  fashion  then  prevailing. 
Writing  to  Daniel  Ammen,  in  1878,  Grant  refers  to 
the  time  when  "you  and  I  first  received  instruction 
under  John  D.  White  and  a  long  beech  switch  cut 
generally  by  the  boys  for  their  own  chastisement." 

A  better  opportunity  for  training  was  presented 
in  the  winter  of  1836-1837,  when  Ulysses,  now  aged 
fourteen,  was  sent  to  Maysville,  Ky.,  to  visit  for 
several  months  in  the  family  of  his  great-uncle, 
Peter  Grant.  Here  he  attended  the  Maysville 
Seminary,  conducted  by  Eicheson  and  Eand,  and  so 
came  under  the  influence  of  men  of  college  culture. 
The  records  of  the  Philomathean  Society  show  that 


EAELY  LIFE  27 

Ulysses  attended  several  meetings  from  January  to 
March,  1837,  and  that  he  participated  in  several 
debates  on  public  questions,  quite  in  harmony  with 
the  ideals  of  the  American  boyhood  of  his  age.1 
When  assigned  to  debate,  he  responded  readily,  and 
was  eventually  elected  a  member  of  the  debate  com 
mittee,  but  when  he  was  given  a  declamation,  he 
paid  his  fine  and  was  silent. 

Two  years  later,  Jesse  Grant,  who  was  always 
keenly  alert  to  give  his  son  a  good  education,  pro 
vided  Ulysses  with  a  winter  term  in  a  boarding- 
school  at  Bipley,  a  town  on  the  Ohio  Eiver,  between 
Georgetown  and  Maysville.  Later,  Grant  said : 
"  I  was  not  studious  in  habit,  and  probably  did  not 
make  progress  enough  to  compensate  for  the  outlay 
for  board  and  tuition. " 

Such  was  the  environment  of  his  boyhood. 
There  was  wholesome,  strenuous,  useful  work  to  be 
done,— schooling  in  the  essentials,— plenty  of  out- 
of-doors  fun, — occasional  entertainments, — reverent 


1  The  researches  of  Hamlin  Garland  have  brought  to  light  the 
old  minute  book  of  the  Society,  with  the  following  entries  : — 

"Resolved,  That  the  Texans  were  not  justifiable  in  giving 
Santa  Anna  his  liberty."  (Affirmative,  H.  U.  Grant.) 

"Resolved,  That  females  wield  greater  influence  in  society 
than  males."  (Affirmative,  H.  U.  Grant.) 

"  Resolved,  That  it  would  not  be  just  and  politic  to  liberate 
the  slaves  at  this  time."  (Negative,  H.  U.  Grant.) 

"Resolved,  That  intemperance  is  a  greater  evil  than  war." 

(Affirmative,  H.  U.  Grant.) 

"  Resolved,  That  Socrates  was  right  in  not  escaping  when  the 
prison  doors  were  opened  to  him. ' '  (Affirmative,  H.  U.  Grant.) 


28  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

observance  of  the  Sabbath.  This  was  the  typical 
life  of  the  times,  and  it  produced  strong  men  for  the 
period  of  the  crisis. 

Among  his  comrades,  Ulysses  seems  to  have  had 
an  average  popularity.  None  of  them  became  the 
intimates  of  his  mature  life,  although  with  some, 
such  as  Arnmen,  he  always  maintained  a  warm 
friendship.  Nothing  extraordinary  had  yet  been 
indicated  either  in  his  personality  or  capacity,  and 
few  expected  the  realization  of  the  extravagant  hopes 
of  his  father.  He  had  a  boy's  love  for  fun  and 
horses,  and  a  boy's  aversion  for  certain  kinds  of 
work.  Later  in  life  he  confessed,  "  I  did  not  like 
to  work  ;  but  I  did  as  much  of  it,  while  young,  as 
grown  men  can  be  hired  to  do  in  these  days,  and 
attended  school  at  the  same  time."  He  was  a 
sturdy  youngster,  with  a  certain  fidelity  to  the  task 
assigned,  lacking  boisterousness,  but  without  any 
special  surface  qualities  to  give  the  hope  of  budding 
genius.  Probably  the  best  picture  of  Ulysses  in 
these  early  days  is  given  by  a  Philadelphia  journal 
ist,  whose  boyhood  was  spent  in  Georgetown  : 

* '  A  brother  of  the  General  was  a  fellow  l  devil  ' 
in  the  printing  office  in  which  we  were  then  the 
younger  imp.  And  through  him  we  became  ac 
quainted  with  Ulysses,  or  *  Lyss  >  as  he  was  called 
by  the  boys.  He  was  then  a  stumpy,  freckle -faced, 
big-headed  country  lad  of  fifteen  or  thereabouts, 
working  in  his  father's  tan-yard  ;  and  we  often 
stood  by  his  side  and  exercised  our  amateur  hand, 
under  his  direction,  in  breaking  bark  for  the  old 


EARLY  LIFE  29 

bark -mill  in  the  hollow.  Though  sneered  at  for 
his  awkwardness  by  the  scions  of  North  Kentucky, 
who  honored  Georgetown  with  their  presence, 
Ulysses  was  a  favorite  with  the  smaller  boys  of 
the  village,  who  had  learned  to  look  up  to  him  as  a 
sort  of  protector. 

"We  well  remember  the  stir  created  by  the 
appointment  of  the  tanner's  son  to  a  cadetship  at 
West  Point.  The  surprise  among  the  sons  of  our 
doctors,  lawyers,  and  storekeepers  was  something 
wonderful.  Indeed  none  of  us  boys,  high  or  low, 
rich  or  poor,  could  clearly  imagine  how  Uncle 
Sam's  schoolmasters  were  going  to  transform  our 
somewhat  outre-looking  comrade  into  our  beau  ideal 
of  dandyism — a  West  Pointer.  .  .  .  Modest  and 
unassuming,  though  determined,  self-reliant  and  de 
cisive  then,  as  he  still  seems  to  be,  we  mistook  his 
shy,  retiring  disposition  for  slowness,  and,  looked 
up  to  as  he  was  by  us  all,  we  must  confess  that 
there  was  much  joking  at  his  expense  as  we  gath 
ered  of  evenings  in  the  court-house  square." 

The  opportunities  of  life  were  now  to  be  widened, 
and  the  country  boy  was  to  be  introduced  to  broader 
experiences  and  a  stricter  discipline  than  his  home 
community  could  present. 


CHAPTER  II 

AT  WEST  POINT 

To  the  American  boy  of  seventeen,  who  has  been 
trained  to  work  and  to  think,  no  prize  that  destiny 
can  offer  is  beyond  reach.  The  first  crisis  in 
Ulysses's  life  came  when,  having  attained  his 
growth,  the  problem  of  vocation  was  to  be  de 
termined.  His  father  had  planned  to  have  the  son 
join  him  in  the  tannery,  but  the  years  of  boyish 
work  had  given  Ulysses  an  unconquerable  aversion 
to  this  occupation.  As  a  lad,  he  would  drive  a 
team,  or  haul  logs,  or  carry  a  message,— anything 
in  preference  to  breaking  the  bark  into  the  hopper 
or  cleaning  the  hides  in  the  beam-house.  It  was 
not  wholly  laziness,  for  since  childhood  he  had  been 
working  steadily  for  his  father  and  others,  and  had 
accumulated  savings  of  $100, — a  large  sum  for  a 
youngster  in  his  'teens.  It  was  rather  the  dislike 
which  children  often  form  to  a  father's  occupation, 
based  upon  a  too  intimate  acquaintance  with  the 
operations  of  the  trade,  before  the  love  of  useful 
work  has  come  with  maturity.  So  when  Jesse 
Grant  offered  to  take  Ulysses  into  the  tan-yard, 
the  sou  replied  that  he  would  work  for  his  father 
until  he  was  twenty-one  years  old,  but  not  one  day 
after  that  at  tanning  ;  and  when  his  father  ques- 


AT  WEST  POINT  31 

tioned  him  as  to  his  plan  for  life,  Ulysses  said  that 
he  would  like  "  to  be  a  farmer,  or  a  Mississippi 
/  trader,  or  to  get  au  education.'7  The  first  two  am 
bitions  were  within  reach  but  did  not  appeal  to  the 
father  ;  the  suggestion  of  the  third  at  once  brought 
to  mind  the  National  Military  Academy  at  West 
Point,  which  several  of  the  youth  of  the  village  had 
attended.  So  the  father  asked,  "  How  would  you 
like  to  go  to  West  Point  ? "  to  which  the  son  re 
plied,  "First  rate,"  and  the  family  plan  was 
formed. 

At  this  time,  West  Point  had  already  attained  to 
a  unique  position  in  American  education.  Founded 
in  1802,  it  had  for  years  graduated  a  group  of 
young  men,  many  of  whom,  after  a  brief  service  in 
the  army,  had  become  leaders  in  civil  life.  It  was 
more  democratic  than  the  typical  college,  for  it 
drew  from  all  classes  in  society ;  it  was  more 
modern  than  the  classical  institutions,  for  it  placed 
the  emphasis  on  scientific  studies,  rather  than  the 
languages  ;  it  was  more  distinctly  American  than 
any  other  school  of  learning,  for  its  cadets  were 
drawn  from  all  over  the  country,  and  since  each 
brought  the  traditions  of  his  early  training,  the 
educational  influence  of  the  group  upon  each  stu 
dent  was  profound.  Moreover,  from  the  earliest 
days  the  discipline  of  the  Academy  was  most 
effective.  There  was  a  demerit  system,  whereby 
each  offense  against  good  order,  or  decorum,  was 
visited  with  a  definite  penalty,  and  when  the  de 
merits  accumulated  to  a  sufficient  degree,  the 


32  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

offender  was  dropped  from  the  rolls.  This  neces 
sitated  a  constant  watch  over  the  details  of  con 
duct,  which  stimulated  self-mastery  and  encouraged 
habits  of  self-control.  Under  the  influence  of  this 
system,  the  Academy  received  each  year  a  large 
group  of  raw,  unformed,  and  maybe  poorly-trained 
boys,  and  at  the  end  of  four  years,  sent  them  forth 
well -poised  and  cultured  gentlemen,  fitted  not  only 
to  do  their  work  in  the  world,  but  also  to  represent 
worthily  the  dignity  and  honor  of  their  country. 

Moreover,  the  educational  advantages  of  such  a 
training  were  very  great.  The  superintendent  was 
always  an  army  officer,  and  usually  served  for  a 
brief  term  of  years  ;  but  there  was  a  permanent 
faculty  of  scholars  equal  in  grade  to  the  best  college 
of  the  time,  and  they  were  assisted  in  the  class-room 
work  by  the  best  of  the  recent  graduates  of  the 
Academy.  At  a  time  when  there  was  no  free  pub 
lic  high  school  west  of  the  Alleghanies,  and  when 
many  of  the  colleges  were  identified  with  sectarian 
control,  it  may  be  readily  imagined  that  the  dream 
of  education  at  the  National  Academy  would  appeal 
strongly  to  any  ambitious  boy. 

Jesse  Grant  was  not  the  man  to  rest  idly  after  the 
plan  had  once  been  determined  upon.  The  con 
gressman  of  the  district,  Hon.  Thomas  L.  Harner, 
had  been  a  close  personal  friend,  but  in  a  recent  po 
litical  disputation  there  had  been  a  disagreement, 
and  the  father  consequently  first  addressed  himself 
to  Hon.  Thomas  Morris,  senator  from  Ohio,  asking 
for  the  appointment  at  large  for  Ulysses.  Senator 


AT  WEST  POINT  33 

Morris  at  once  replied  that  he  could  not  fulfil  this 
request,  since  having  received  no  applications  from 
his  own  state,  he  had  transferred  his  right  to  ap 
point  to  Pennsylvania,1  but  that  there  was  a  vacancy 
from  the  district,  and  that  an  application  to  Mr. 
Hamer  would  doubtless  produce  the  desired  result. 
So  the  father  pocketed  his  pride,  and  wrote  to  Mr. 
Hamer,  who  at  once  exerted  himself  in  the  interest 
of  his  constituent,  and  within  a  few  months  it  was 
announced  that  Ulysses  had  been  appointed  to  the 
class  which  would  enter  the  Academy  in  July,  1839. 
In  his  "  Memoirs"  Grant  gave  the  following  ac 
count  of  his  appointment :  u  In  the  winter  of  1838- 
1839  I  was  attending  school  at  Eipley,  only  ten  miles 
distant  from  Georgetown,  but  spent  the  Christmas 
holidays  at  home.  During  this  vacation  my  father 
received  a  letter  from  the  Hon.  Thomas  Morris, 
then  United  States  Senator  from  Ohio.  When  he 
read  it  he  said  to  me,  i  Ulysses,!  believe  you  are  go 
ing  to  receive  the  appointment.'  4  What  appoint 
ment  !  '  I  inquired.  '<  To  West  Point ;  I  have  ap 
plied  for  it.'  '  But  I  won't  go,'  I  said.  He  said  he 
thought  I  would,  and  I  thought  so  too,  if  he  did.  I 
really  had  no  objection  to  going  to  West  Point,  ex 
cept  that  I  had  a  very  exalted  idea  of  the  acquire 
ments  necessary  to  get  through.  I  did  not  believe  I 
possessed  them,  and  could  not  bear  the  idea  of  fail- 

1  In  the  early  days  of  Ohio,  appointments  were  frequently 
made  from  outside  of  the  state.  In  his  "  Memoirs, ' '  General  Sher 
man  records  that  in  1836  he  went  up  to  West  Point  with  two 
appointees  from  Ohio,  neither  of  whom  had  ever  seen  the  state  ! 


34  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

ing.  There  had  been  four  boys  from  our  village,  or 
its  immediate  neighborhood,  who  had  been  grad 
uated  from  West  Point,  and  never  a  failure  of  any 
one  appointed  from  Georgetown,  except  in  the  case 
of  the  one  whose  place  I  was  to  take.  He  was  the 
son  of  Dr.  Bailey,  our  nearest  and  most  intimate 
neighbor.  Young  Bailey  had  been  appointed  in 
1837.  Finding  before  the  January  examinations  fol 
lowing  that  he  could  not  pass,  he  resigned  and  went 
to  a  private  school,  and  remained  there  until  the  fol 
lowing  year,  when  he  was  reappointed.  Dr.  Bailey 
was  a  proud  and  sensitive  man,  and  felt  the  failure 
of  his  sou  so  keenly  that  he  forbade  his  return  home. 
There  were  no  telegraphs  in  those  days  to  disseminate 
news  rapidly,  no  railroads  west  of  the  Alleghanies, 
and  but  few  east ;  and  above  all,  there  were  no  re 
porters  prying  into  other  people's  private  affairs. 
Consequently  it  did  not  become  generally  known 
that  there  was  a  vacancy  at  West  Point  from  our 
district  until  I  was  appointed.  I  presume  Mrs. 
Bailey  confided  to  my  mother  the  fact  that  Bartlett 
had  been  dismissed  and  that  the  doctor  had  forbid 
den  his  son's  return  home." 

The  gossips  of  Georgetown  did  not  take  kindly  to 
the  appointment  of  the  tanner's  son.  Prior  appoint 
ments  had  been  conferred  upon  the  sons  of  gentle 
men  in  professional  life,  and  there  seemed  little  in 
this  "  short,  stubby  boy,"  "  sluggish  in  mind  and 
body,"  to  suggest  military  achievement.  One  even 
asked  Jesse  why  some  one  had  not  been  chosen  "  that 
would  be  a  credit  to  the  district. "  But,  disregard- 


AT  WEST  POINT  35 

ing  criticism  or  praise,  the  family  proceeded  with 
the  preparations  for  the  departure  of  the  eldest  son. 

Until  this  time  there  was  no  uncertainty  concern 
ing  the  name  of  the  future  general.  When  his  fa 
ther  applied  to  Mr.  Hanier,  he  referred  to  his  son, 
H.  Ulysses,  and  school  records  bear  abundant  tes 
timony  to  the  fact  that  the  boy's  accepted  name 
was  H.  U.  Grant.  But  when  a  neighbor  made  a 
trunk  for  his  belongings,  and  traced  on  the  cover, 
in  big  brass  tacks,  the  initials  "H.  U.  G.77  Ulysses 
protested.  "It  spells  'hug'  and  the  boys  would 
plague  me  about  it,"  he  complained,  and  presently 
he  reversed  the  initials  himself,  and  thenceforth,  for 
a  brief  period,  was  known  as  Ulysses  H.  Grant.1 

In  May,  1839,  the  young  traveler  started  on  his 
eastern  journey.  The  final  farewells  were  said  and 
the  last  greetings  exchanged.  When  his  neighbor, 
Mrs.  Bailey,  the  mother  of  his  predecessor  at  West 
Point,  wept  as  she  said  "Good-bye,77  Ulysses  pro 
tested, — "Why,  Mrs.  Bailey,  my  own  mother  didn7t 
cry!77  Excess  of  outward  emotion  was  not  the 
habit  of  that  well-poised  soul ! 

The  next  two  weeks  were  spent  in  travel,  and  were 
a  source  of  keen  joy  to  the  prospective  soldier.  "  I 
had  always  a  great  desire  to  travel,7'  said  Grant  in 
his  "Memoirs,77  and  he  naively  confesses  that  his 
interest  in  the  prospect  of  a  military  life  was  so 

1  In  the  manuscript  collection  of  the  Historical  Society  of  Penn 
sylvania,  there  are  letters,  dated  March  and  April  of  1843,  ad 
dressed  to  Carey  &  Hart,  hook  publishers  of  Philadelphia,  or 
dering  illustrated  editions  of  some  of  Lever's  novels,  signed 
"  Ulysses  H.  Grant,  Cadet,  U.  S.  M.  A." 


36  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

slight  that,  after  seeing  the  cities  of  the  east,  he 
would  have  rejoiced  in  a  railroad  accident,  if  he 
might  have  received  a  temporary  injury  sufficient  to 
make  him  ineligible  for  the  Academy.  Most  of  the 
methods  of  travel  known  to  the  American  of  that 
day  were  practiced  before  the  boy  arrived  at  West 
Point.  Three  days  were  spent  on  the  steamboat 
from  Eipley  to  Pittsburgh  ;  then  several  days  on  the 
canal  from  Pittsburgh  to  Harrisburg,  with  the  aid 
of  the  railroad  then  recently  opened  over  the  sum 
mit  of  the  Alleghanies  ;  then  by  rail  from  Harris- 
burg  to  Philadelphia,  a  new  experience  which 
seemed  like  "  annihilating  space."  Five  days  were 
spent  in  Philadelphia  in  becoming  acquainted  with 
the  many  objects  of  interest  in  that  historic  city. 
The  beautiful  Grecian  structure  of  Girard  College 
was  in  process  of  building,  the  corner-stone  having 
been  laid  six  years  before,  and  it  specially  attracted 
the  attention  of  the  sightseers.  Prom  Philadelphia, 
after  a  reprimand  from  home  for  delaying  so  long 
en  route,  he  proceeded  to  New  York  and  then  to 
West  Point,  and  on  May  29,  1839,  the  name  of 
Ulysses  Hiram  Grant  was  affixed  to  the  Adjutant's 
record  at  the  Military  Academy. 

At  this  point  in  Grant's  career,  his  name  was 
changed  to  the  form  by  which  he  is  generally 
known.  In  soliciting  the  appointment,  Congress 
man  Hamer,  knowing  that  his  neighbor  Grant  had  a 
son  named  "  Simpson,"  confounded  his  name  with 
that  of  the  eldest  boy  and  made  his  application  in 
the  name  of  "Ulysses  Simpson  Grant."  In  this 


AT  WEST  POINT  37 

form  the  name  appeared  on  the  muster-roll ;  and 
when  Grant  presented  himself  to  execute  the  certif 
icate  of  enlistment,  he  was  obliged  to  sign  himself 
U.  S.  Grant.  The  error  could  probably  have  been 
corrected  by  appeal  to  the  Secretary  of  War,  but 
time  and  trouble  would  have  been  involved  in  the 
necessary  red  tape  ;  so  the  young  man  accepted  the 
situation,  and  was  henceforth  known  officially  by 
the  new  name.  After  a  few  years,  he  dropped 
Hiram,  never  a  popular  name  with  him,  and  hence 
forth  was  known  personally  and  to  history  as 
Ulysses  Simpson  Grant. 

The  new  initials  served  to  give  him  a  local  fame 
far  different  from  that  which  he  had  anticipated 
under  the  old.  His  closest  associate  among  the 
great  warriors  of  the  crisis,  William  T.  Sherman, 
was  then  a  cadet  at  West  Point  in  the  class  which 
was  graduated  in  1840,  and  years  after  he  told  the 
story  of  Grant's  first  appearance  at  the  Academy. 
' '  I  remember  as  plain  as  if  it  were  yesterday 
Grant's  first  appearance  among  us.  I  was  three 
years  ahead  of  him.  I  remember  seeing  his  name 
on  the  bulletin -board  where  the  names  of  all  the 
newcomers  were  posted.  I  ran  my  eye  down  the 
columns,  and  there  saw  U.  S.  Grant.  Some  of  us 
began  to  make  names  to  fit  the  initials.  One  said 
'  United  States  Grant,'  another  i  Uncle  Sam  Grant,' 
a  third  shouted  '  Sam  Grant.'  The  name  stuck  to 
him,  and  by  it  he  was  henceforth  known  by  the 
cadets  of  the  Academy." 

The  new  life  introduced  him  to  the  most  rigorous 


38  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

discipline  which  could  have  been  found  in  any  in 
stitution  of  learning  in  America.  First  there  was  a 
physical  examination  to  determine  his  fitness  for  the 
work.  Then  there  was  a  series  of  tests  in  elemen 
tary  branches,  which  Grant  found  not  so  difficult  as 
he  had  feared.  After  being  admitted  as  a  cadet, 
there  was  then  a  full  four  years'  course,  which  in 
cluded  algebra,  higher  mathematics,  trigonometry, 
surveying  and  calculus,  chemistry,  mineralogy, 
electricity,  magnetism,  optics,  and  astronomy,  in 
fantry  and  cavalry  drill,  military  and  civil  engineer 
ing,  pyrotechny  and  artillery,  French,  rhetoric, 
moral  philosophy  and  Kent's  u  Commentaries, "  and 
landscape,  topographical  and  figure  drawing. 

In  addition  to  these  subjects,  constant  attention 
was  required  to  details  of  dress  and  deportment, 
care  of  equipment,  punctuality,  and  conduct.  Writ 
ing  to  his  cousin,  after  three  months  at  the  Academy, 
Grant  said  :  "  I  came  near  forgetting  to  tell  you 
about  our  demerits  or  l  blackmarks.7  They  give  a 
man  one  of  these  '  blackmarks '  for  almost  nothing, 
and  if  he  gets  two  hundred  a  year  they  dismiss 
him.  To  show  how  easy  one  can  get  these,  a  man 
by  the  name  of  Grant,  of  this  state,  got  eight  of 
these  '  marks J  for  not  going  to  church.  He  was 
also  put  under  arrest  so  he  cannot  leave  his  room 
perhaps  for  a  month  ;  all  this  for  not  going  to 
church.  We  are  not  only  obliged  to  go  to  church, 
but  must  march  there  by  companies.  This  is  not 
republican.  It  is  an  Episcopal  church." 

His  record  of  demerits  during  his  four  years  was 


AT  WEST  POINT  39 

quite  extensive.  In  the  first  year  he  received  fifty  - 
nine,  and  was  graded  No.  156  on  the  conduct  roll, 
in  a  total  of  233  for  the  entire  corps  ;  in  the  second 
year  he  received  sixty-seven  demerits,  and  was  No. 
144  out  of  219  ;  in  the  third  year  he  received  ninety- 
eight  demerits,  and  was  No.  157  out  of  217  ;  in  the 
last  year  he  received  sixty-six  demerits,  and  was 
No.  156  in  a  total  of  223.  Most  of  these  "  black  - 
marks  "  were  awarded  for  lateness  and  negligence  ; 
occasionally  for  failure  to  report  the  delinquencies 
of  others  ;  once  he  spoke  disrespectfully  to  a  superior. 
Plainly  here  was  no  "  model  boy,"  but  a  live  Ameri 
can,  with  all  of  a  boy's  difficulty  in  conquering 
sluggishness  and  establishing  accurate  and  exemplary 
habits  under  an  iron-clad  discipline. 

At  this  time,  the  educational  organization  of  the 
Academy  was  complete  and  the  work  of  instruction 
was  in  unusually  competent  hands.  Major  Richard 
Delafield  was  the  superintendent,  and  among  the 
professors  and  teachers  were  William  H.  C.  Bartlett, 
natural  and  experimental  philosophy  ;  Albert  E. 
Church,  mathematics ;  Eev.  Jaspar  Adams  and 
Eev.  M.  P.  Parks,  geography,  history  and  ethics  ; 
Jacob  W.  Bailey,  chemistry,  mineralogy  and 
geology;  Eobert  W.  Weir,  drawing;  Claudius 
Berard,  and  H.  E.  Agnel,  French ;  Charles  F. 
Smith,  commandant  of  cadets,  in  charge  of  infantry 
tactics ;  Alexander  J.  Swift,  practical  engineering  ; 
Dennis  H.  Mahan,  civil  and  military  engineering  ; 
Minor  Knowlton,  artillery  and  cavalry  ;  George  G. 
Waggaman,  Joseph  Hooker  and  Irvin  McDowell, 


40  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

adjutants;  Ferdinand  Dupari,  sword-play;  and 
James  McAuley  and  Henry  B.  Hershberger,  riding 
masters.  There  were  also  a  number  of  younger 
men  who  served  as  instructors,  supervising  the 
class-room  work.  Many  of  these  teachers  were 
officers  of  the  army  and  graduates  of  the  Academy, 
and  hence  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  peculiar 
traditions  of  the  service. 

As  a  student,  Grant  showed  some  lines  of  strength 
and  many  of  weakness.  "  I  did  not  take  hold  of  my 
studies  with  avidity,"  he  states  in  the  "  Memoirs"  ; 
"  in  fact  I  rarely  ever  read  over  a  lesson  the  second 
time  during  my  entire  cadetship.  ...  I  never 
succeeded  in  getting  squarely  at  either  end  of  my 
class,  in  any  one  study,  during  the  four  years. "  He 
avoided  expulsion,  which  would  have  followed  npon 
one  hundred  zero  marks  in  six  months,  and  he  passed 
all  of  his  examinations  successfully  ;  but  his  record 
in  the  various  branches  is  a  comfort  to  those  students 
who,  from  temperament  or  slow  development  of  ca 
pacity,  lack  acquaintance  with  the  head  of  the  class. 
Mathematics,  generally  regarded  as  the  most  diffi 
cult  subject  of  the  course,  gave  him  little  trouble, 
and  here  he  maintained  a  class  grade  of  sixteen  in 
the  first  year  and  ten  in  the  second.  But  in  French 
he  was  but  an  indifferent  student,  and  was  generally 
found  in  the  last  third  of  the  class.1  In  his  last  year, 

1  When  Grant  was  President,  John  Eaton,  who  had  just  re 
turned  from  Europe  on  a  tour  of  educational  inspection,  ex 
plained  to  him  the  growing  use  of  illustrations  to  aid  education. 
Eaton  commented  on  the  fact  that  at  West  Point  there  was  a 
set  of  illustrations  of  mathematical  principles,  but  Grant  said 


AT  WEST  POINT  41 

out  of  a  class  of  thirty-nine,  he  attained  a  general 
standing  of  twenty-one,  and  in  some  of  the  branches 
his  class  standing  was  as  follows  :  Engineering,  16  j 
ethics,  28 ;  infantry  tactics,  28  ;  artillery  tactics, 
25 ;  mineralogy  and  geology,  17.  In  his  third 
year,  he  was  appointed  a  sergeant,  an  honor  which 
was  based  upon  standing  and  soldierly  bearing,  but 
"  the  promotion  was  too  much  for  me,"  writes 
Grant,  and  he  served  in  his  last  year  as  a  private. 

There  was  one  branch,  however,  in  which  he  was 
an  acknowledged  master, — horsemanship.  In  Sep 
tember,  1839,  a  riding-master  was  appointed  for  the 
Academy,  and  proper  provision  made  for  mounting 
the  cadets.  The  boyish  fondness  for  the  horse  still 
dominated,  and  he  soon  was  conceded  to  be  the 
most  accomplished  rider  at  the  post.  In  the  pres 
ence  of  General  Winfield  Scott  and  the  official  board 
of  visitors,  Grant  made  a  record  jump,  still  known 
as  "Grant's  jump  on  York,"  in  which  the  horse 
leaped  a  bar  held  high  over  the  head  of  the  soldier 
who  rested  it  against  the  wall.  General  James  B. 
Fry,  then  a  candidate  for  admission  to  the  Acad 
emy,  tells  vigorously  the  story  of  another  exploit : 

"When  the  regular  service  was  completed,  the 
class,  still  mounted,  was  formed  in  a  line  through 
the  centre  of  the  hall.  The  riding-master  placed 

that  he  did  not  see  them  in  his  day,  adding,  "  I  had  no  occa 
sion  for  any  aids  in  mathematics.  The  subject  was  so  easy  to 
me  as  to  come  almost  by  intuition."  When  in  1869  he  was 
told  that  his  son  Fred,  then  a  student  at  the  Academy,  did  not 
excel  in  French,  Grant  promptly  remarked,  "That  is  the  way 
it  was  with  his  father." 


42  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

the  leaping-bar  higher  than  a  man's  head,  and 
called  out  '  Cadet  Grant ! '  A  clean -faced,  slender, 
blue-eyed  young  fellow,  weighing  one  hundred 
and  twenty  pounds,  dashed  from  the  ranks  on  a 
powerfully  built  chestnut-sorrel  horse  and  galloped 
down  the  opposite  side  of  the  hall.  As  he  turned 
at  the  farther  end  and  came  into  the  stretch  across 
which  the  bar  was  placed,  the  horse  increased  his 
pace,  and  measuring  his  strides  for  the  great  leap 
before  him,  bounded  into  the  air  and  cleared  the 
bar,  carrying  his  rider  as  if  man  and  beast  had  been 
welded  together.  The  spectators  were  speechless. 
1  Very  well  done,  sir ! '  growled  old  Hershberger, 
the  riding-master,  and  the  class  was  dismissed  and 
disappeared ;  but  Cadet  Grant  remained  a  living 
image  in  my  memory. 

"  A  few  months  before  graduation  one  of  Grant's 
classmates,  James  A.  Hardie,  said  to  his  friend  and 
instructor :  i  Well,  sir,  if  a  great  emergency  arises 
in  this  country  during  our  lifetime,  Sam  Grant  will 
be  the  man  to  meet  it.'  If  I  had  heard  Bardie's 
prediction  I  doubt  not  I  should  have  believed  it,  for 
I  thought  the  young  man  who  could  perform  the 
feat  of  horsemanship,  and  who  wore  a  sword,  could 
do  anything. " 

In  the  life  of  the  Academy,  Grant  played  an  in 
conspicuous,  but  by  no  means  unimportant,  part. 
He  did  not  seek  friends,  but  those  of  his  class  and 
his  intimates  all  bear  witness  to  the  basic  qualities 
of  truth,  sincerity  and  purity  which  attracted  them. 
His  early  letters  to  his  father  and  mother  are  full  of 


AT  WEST  POINT  43 

the  ideals  of  patriotism  suggested  to  him  by  his  new 
life.  "I  am  rendered  serious  by  the  impressions 
which  crowd  upon  me  here  at  West  Point.  .  .  . 
I  am  fall  of  a  conviction  of  scorn  and  contempt 
.  .  .  toward  the  conduct  of  any  man  who  at  any 
time  could  strike  at  the  liberties  of  such  a  nation  as 
ours."  Eeferring  to  a  possible  recurrence  of  the 
treason  of  Arnold, — "I  trust  my  future  conduct  in 
such  an  hour  would  prove  worthy  the  patriotic  in 
structions  you  have  given. " 

"I  do  love  the  place/'  he  wrote  to  his  cousin  ; 
"it  seems  as  though  I  could  live  here  forever,  if 
my  friends  would  only  come  too."  In  writing  his 
"  Memoirs, "  when  the  shadow  of  the  grave  was  close, 
Grant  then  remembered  that  he  had  so  little  interest 
in  his  military  education  as  to  wish  that  a  bill  to 
abolish  the  Academy,  pending  in  Congress  during 
his  first  year,  might  pass  ;  but  this  was  doubtless  an 
old  man's  recollection  of  a  youthful  fit  of  homesick 
ness.  There  is  no  contemporary  record  which  does 
not  show  that  Grant  enjoyed  the  life  in  the  Academy 
to  the  full, — resisting  and  complaining,  as  a  healthy 
boy  would  do,  the  rigor  of  its  discipline,  but  never 
theless  accepting  joyfully  the  best  that  it  had  to 
give.  The  attention  to  details  of  dress  and  bearing 
was  doubtless  very  irksome  to  his  nature.  "If  I 
were  to  come  home  now  with  my  uniform  on,  the 
way  you  would  laugh  at  my  appearance  would  be 
curious.  My  pants  set  as  tight  to  my  skin  as  the 
bark  to  a  tree,  and  if  I  do  not  walk  military, — that 
is,  if  I  bend  over  quickly  or  run, — they  are  apt  to 


44  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

crack  with  a  report  as  loud  as  a  pistol.  My  coat 
must  always  be  buttoned  up  tight  to  the  chin.  It 
is  made  of  sheep's  gray  cloth,  all  covered  with  big 
round  buttons.  It  makes  one  look  very  singular. 
If  you  were  to  see  me  at  a  distance,  the  first  ques 
tion  you  would  ask  would  be,  *  Is  that  a  fish  or  an 
animal  ? '  " 

West  Point  does  not  give  much  opportunity  for 
leisure  to  its  cadets,  but  in  his  free  time  Grant  read 
extensively  of  fiction  from  the  books  of  the  library. 
In  company  with  others,  he  tried  smoking,  but  gave 
it  up  because  it  made  him  sick.  The  favorite  stu 
dent  resort  was  "  Benny  Havens,"  a  tavern  near 
Highland  Falls,  and  here  he  was  no  stranger. 

"  'Tis  said  by  commentators,  when  to  other  worlds  we  go, 

We  follow  the  same  handicraft  we  did  in  this  below. 
If  this  be  true  philosophy   (The  Sexton,  he  says,  No), 

What    days    of    dauce    and    song  we'll   have    at    Benny 
Havens,  O." 

There  is  no  evidence,  however,  of  any  dissipation 
during  this  period,  and  on  the  contrary  it  is  stated 
that  Grant  was  one  of  a  group  who  took  the  pledge 
of  total  abstinence  in  order  to  help  a  weaker  brother. 

It  is  probable  that  he  experienced  the  usual  haz 
ing,  which,  when  it  does  not  degenerate  into  cruelty, 
helps  the  process  of  education,  whereby  the  undis 
ciplined  "  plebe"  is  brought  into  habits  of  subordi 
nation.  Tradition  records  an  occasional  fight  and 
once  when  he  had  to  take  a  beating  from  a  larger 
cadet,  Grant  went  into  training,  and  after  a  second 


AT  WEST  POINT  45 

arid  third  defeat  was  victorious  on  the  fourth  en 
counter.  At  one  time  Grant  and  the  classmate  who 
was  afterward  his  brother-in-law,  Frederick  T. 
Dent,  had  a  heated  argument  on  the  relative  merits 
of  North  and  South,  which  terminated  in  a  quarrel. 
They  stripped  for  a  fight,  when  the  absurdity  of  the 
situation  brought  on  a  laugh,  which  ended  hostili 
ties.  Grant  became  identified  with  the  Dialectic 
Society,  the  only  literary  and  debating  association 
at  the  Academy,  and  in  his  last  year  served  as 
president. 

Unquestionably,  the  best  experience  of  his  student 
life  was  the  furlough,  which  comes  between  the  sec 
ond  and  third  year,  and  which  he  afterward  referred 
to  as  u  enjoyed  beyond  any  other  period  of  my  life. " 
This  was  a  sixty  days'  vacation,  and  Grant  eagerly 
turned  toward  home.  His  father  had  recently 
moved  from  Georgetown  to  Bethel,  twelve  miles 
away,  where  he  had  established  another  tannery. 
During  part  of  the  journey  to  the  west,  Grant  trav 
eled  with  his  Grandmother  Simpson,  and  a  young 
lady  who  was  his  first  sweetheart,  and  the  latter  has 
stated  her  recollection  that  his  most  delightful  char 
acteristic  was  his  charming  courtesy  to  his  grand 
mother.  His  home-coming  was  joyous  to  the  ex 
treme.  His  mother's  comment  was  "  You've  grown 
much  straighter  and  taller,"  to  which  he  replied, 
"  Yes,  mother,  they  teach  us  to  be  erect  at  West 
Point."  His  father  exulted  in  the  improvement  in 
manner  and  appearance,  and  indulged  more  than 
ever  in  the  exuberance  of  his  paternal  pride.  A 


46  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

horse  was  provided,  and  in  riding,  visiting  and 
merrymaking  among  friends,  old  and  new,  the 
happy  days  of  vacation  passed,  and  the  young  sol 
dier  returned  to  his  work. 

During  his  life  at  West  Point,  Grant  made  many 
friends  from  those  who  were  destined  to  be  his  as 
sociates  and  opponents  in  the  Civil  War.  William 
B.  Franklin,  afterward  Major-General,  was  the 
first  honor  graduate  of  his  class,  and  among  the 
others  who  attained  military  distinction  were  Isaac 
F.  Quiuby,  Samuel  G.  French,  Christopher  C. 
Augur,  Franklin  Gardner,  Charles  S.  Hamilton, 
Frederick  Steele  and  Eufus  Ingalls.  In  the  classes 
attending  from  1839  to  1843  were  Sherman,  Thomas, 
Eosecrans,  Lougstreet,  Ewell  and  Buell.  Buckner, 
Grant's  opponent  at  Fort  Donelson,  was  graduated 
one  year  after  him,  and  McClellan  in  1846. 

When  distinction  has  been  won,  there  are  always 
plenty  of  prophets  " after  the  fact."  There  is  little 
reason  to  believe,  however,  that  his  classmates  and 
teachers  recognized  in  Grant  the  budding  genius  of 
a  great  warrior.  It  is  reported  of  one  of  his  teachers  l 
that,  when  the  class  of  1843  was  graduated,  he  made 
the  prophecy, — "the  smartest  man  in  the  class  is 
little  Grant !  "  In  the  first  days  of  the  Civil  War, 
General  Ewell  made  the  comment :  "There  is  one 
West  Pointer  whom  I  hope  the  Northern  people 
will  not  find  out.  I  mean  Sam  Grant.  ...  I 
should  fear  him  more  than  any  of  their  officers  I 
have  yet  heard  of.  He  is  not  a  man  of  genius,  but 
1  Professor  Davis  to  General  Scammon. 


AT  WEST  POINT  47 

he  is  clear-headed,  quick  and  daring."  Grant  him 
self  had  once  a  gleam  of  the  future.  "  During  my 
first  year's  encampment,"  record  the  "  Memoirs, " 
"  General  Scott  visited  West  Point,  and  reviewed  the 
cadets.  With  his  commanding  figure,  his  quite 
colossal  size  and  showy  uniform,  I  thought  him  the 
finest  specimen  of  manhood  my  eyes  had  ever  be 
held,  and  the  most  to  be  envied.  I  could  never  re 
semble  him  in  appearance,  but  I  believe  I  did  have 
a  presentiment  for  a  moment  that  some  day  I  should 
occupy  his  place  on  review — although  I  had  no  in 
tention  then  of  remaining  in  the  army." 

Most  of  the  recorded  comments  of  his  associates 
lay  stress  on  his  personal  qualities,  rather  than  his 
ability.  "He  had  no  bad  habits  whatever,"  says 
General  D.  M.  Frost ;  "he  had  no  facility  in  con 
versation  with  the  ladies,  a  total  absence  of  elegance, 
and  naturally  showed  off  badly  in  contrast  with  the 
young  Southern  men.'7  "He  was  a  lad  without 
guile,"  says  General  Yiele.  "I  never  heard  him 
utter  a  profane  or  vulgar  word."  "  Perfect  was  his 
sense  of  honor,"  says  General  Longstreet.  "He 
had  the  most  scrupulous  regard  for  truth,"  says 
Hardie.  Perhaps  the  most  complete  pen-picture 
from  his  fellow-students  is  that  of  Henry  Coppee, 
who  was  two  years  below  him  in  the  Academy,  and 
afterward  his  biographer  : 

"I  remember  him  as  a  plain,  common-sense, 
straightforward  youth  ;  quiet,  calm,  thoughtful,  and 
unaggressive  ;  shunning  notoriety  ;  quite  contented, 
while  others  were  grumbling  ;  taking  to  his  military 


48  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

duties  in  a  very  businesslike  manner  ;  not  a  prom 
inent  man  in  the  corps,  but  respected  by  all,  and 
very  popular  with  his  friends.  His  sobriquet  of 
Uncle  Sam  was  given  to  him  there,  when  every  good 
fellow  had  a  nickname,  from  these  very  qualities  ; 
indeed,  he  was  a  very  much  liked  sort  of  youth. 
He  was  then  and  always  an  excellent  horseman,  and 
his  picture  rises  before  me,  as  I  write,  in  the  old  torn 
coat,  obsolescent  leather  gig-top,  loose  riding  panta 
loons,  with  spurs  buckled  over  them,  going  with  his 
clanking  sabre  to  the  drill-hall.  He  exhibited  but 
little  enthusiasm  in  anything  ;  his  best  standing  was 
in  the  mathematical  branches,  and  their  application 
to  tactics  and  military  engineering." 

From  the  faculty,  Professor  Mahan,  long  honored 
as  one  of  the  most  eminent  teachers  in  the  service, 
has  said  : 

"  Grant  is  remembered  at  his  Alma  Mater  as  hav 
ing  a  cheery  and  at  the  same  time  firm  aspect  and  a 
prompt,  decided  manner.  His  class  standing  was 
among  that  grade  which  has  given  to  the  line  of  the 
army  some  of  its  most  valuable  officers,  like  Lyon, 
Reynolds,  Sedgwick,  etc.  Unlike  Lee,  subsequently 
to  graduating,  he  had  none  of  the  aids  toward  dis 
tinction  which  social  position  in  private  life  and 
nearness  to  the  commanding  general  in  military  life 
affords.  He  was  what  we  termed  a  first  section 
man  in  all  his  scientific  branches  ;  that  is  one  who 
accomplishes  the  full  course.  He  always  showed 
himself  a  clear  thinker  and  a  steady  worker.  He 
belonged  to  the  class  of  compactly  strong  men  who 


AT  WEST  POINT  49 

went  at  their  work  at  ouce,  and  kept  at  it  until 
they  had  finished  ;  never  being  seen  like  the  slack  - 
twisted  class,  yawning,  lolling  on  their  elbows  over 
their  work,  and  looking  as  if  just  ready  to  sink 
down  from  mental  inanity.  Grant's  round,  cheery, 
boyish  face,  though  marked  with  character  and 
quiet  manner,  gave  no  evidence  of  what  he  has 
since  shown  he  possesses.  His  mental  machine  was 
of  the  powerful,  low-pressure  class,  which  condenses 
its  own  steam  and  consumes  its  own  smoke ;  and 
which  pushes  steadily  forward  and  drives  all  ob 
stacles  before  it." 

With  his  class,  he  was  graduated  in  June,  1843, 
as  brevet  second  lieutenant,  and  although  he  had 
expressed  a  preference  for  the  dragoons,  yet  as  the 
only  cavalry  regiment  in  the  service  had  its  full 
complement  of  officers,  he  was  assigned  to  the 
Fourth  U.  S.  Infantry. 

The  brand  was  forged  for  the  using — and  the 
young  man  was  now  equipped  for  the  battle  of  life. 


CHAPTEE  III 

ELEVEN  YEARS  IN  THE  ARMY 

IN  1843  the  regular  army  of  the  United  States 
numbered  about  7,500  men,  and  consequently  the 
Military  Academy  graduated  far  more  officers  than 
were  required  by  the  immediate  needs  of  the  service. 
When  Grant  received,  therefore,  a  brevet  as  second 
lieutenant,  it  gave  him  the  rank  and  pay  of  the 
grade,  but  he  was  assigned  to  a  regiment  as  a  super 
numerary.  Before  proceeding  to  his  post,  he  en 
joyed  a  three  months'  furlough,  and  repeated  the 
pleasures  of  the  vacation,  two  years  before,  in  his 
father's  home  at  Bethel.  The  pride  of  the  family 
in  their  soldier  may  well  be  imagined,  and  when  at 
last  his  uniform  arrived,  it  brought  them  to  the 
highest  round  of  bliss. 

In  the  " Memoirs,"  Grant  refers  to  two  circum 
stances  which  dulled  the  edge  of  his  boyish  satisfac 
tion.  In  full  uniform,  he  rode  to  Cincinnati,  and 
while  idling  around  the  streets  of  that  city,  he  at 
tracted  the  attention  of  a  ragged  street-urchin,  who 
derisively  sang  out,  "  Soldier  !  will  you  work  f  No, 
sir-ee  ;  I'll  sell  my  shirt  first."  At  another  time  in 
Bethel,  a  dissipated  hostler  paraded  up  and  down  the 
street  before  Grant's  home,  barefoot,  but  in  sky-blue 
trousers,  with  a  strip  of  white  cotton  sewed  down 


ELEVEN  YEAKS  IN  THE  AEMY         51 

the  outside  seams,  in  imitation  of  the  uniform. 
These  two  events,  together  with  an  innate  aversion 
to  parade,  gave  the  young  soldier  a  distaste  for 
military  dress,  which  was  often  remarked  later  in 
his  career. 

In  September  he  left  his  family  to  report  for  duty 
at  St.  Louis,  where  sixteen  companies  were  then 
stationed  under  the  command  of  Colonel  Steven 
Kearney.  Here  he  had  his  first  taste  of  real  gar 
rison  life,  with  its  monotony  of  roll-call,  drill  and 
parade,  and  here  also  he  met  with  the  real  romance 
of  his  life.  About  five  miles  from  the  barracks  was 
White  Haven,  the  home  of  a  classmate  at  the 
Academy,  Frederick  T.  Dent,  who  had  been  his 
roommate  during  his  fourth  year.  "  Colonel " 
Dent,  as  the  father  was  called,  had  an  extensive 
plantation,  and  owned  enough  negroes  to  enable 
him  to  live  in  characteristic  Southern  comfort.  The 
oldest  daughter,  Julia,  then  a  girl  of  seventeen,  soon 
eugaged  the  attention  of  the  lieutenant,  and  in  the 
ample  leisure  which  the  garrison  afforded  there  de 
veloped  a  mutual  affection.  The  other  officers  were 
not  unobservant  of  the  course  of  events,  and  Long- 
street,  afterward  Lee's  chief  lieutenant,  records  how 
some  teased  the  maiden  about  the  devotion  of  the 
"  small  lieutenant  with  the  large  epaulettes." 

At  this  time,  Grant  had  no  thought  of  a  perma 
nent  life  in  the  army.  His  ambition  was  to  become 
a  professor,  probably  of  mathematics,  in  some  small 
college,  and  as  the  first  step  he  wrote  to  Professor 
Church  at  West  Point  asking  for  a  detail  to  the 


52  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

Academy  as  an  assistant.  The  answer  was  encour 
aging,  and  in  preparation  for  the  expected  assign 
ment,  he  devoted  much  of  his  free  time  to  mathe 
matical  study  and  historical  reading.  Before  this 
expectation  could  be  realized,  however,  the  long 
peace  which  had  continued  for  a  generation  was 
broken,  and  the  nation,  through  the  policy  of  its 
leaders,  found  itself  committed  to  what  Grant,  as 
well  as  many  others,  called  the  "  unholy  "  war  with 
Mexico. 

The  attitude  of  the  chronicler  toward  this  conflict 
must  necessarily  vary  with  the  standpoint  of  the 
writer.  To  some,  the  war  was  founded  on  an  unjust 
desire  for  territorial  aggrandizement,  in  order  to 
provide  additional  room  for  the  expansion  of 
slavery,  and  the  making  of  slave  states.  Others 
regarded  it  as  a  heroic  conflict,  based  on  the  over 
powering  impulse  of  fraternity,  which  led  the  nation 
to  help  those  of  its  own  blood  to  obtain  freedom 
from  Mexican  interference.  There  were  many  who 
regarded  the  struggle  as  merely  the  natural  expres 
sion  of  the  desire  of  the  nation  to  find  a  western  out 
let  for  migration  and  commerce.  Grant  accepted 
the  first  of  these  standpoints,  and  while  not  an 
Abolitionist,  he  nevertheless  sympathized  with  the 
Mexicans  as  the  under-dog  in  a  contest  in  which 
the  United  States  was  unquestionably  the  aggressor. 

The  circumstances  which  inaugurated  the  strife 
were  as  follows  : — Texas  had  been  peopled  largely 
by  Americans  who  had  taken  advantage  of  the 
liberal  offers  of  the  Mexican  Government,  and 


ELEVEN  YEAES  IN  THE  ARMY        53 

moved  there  with  their  slaves  and  other  property. 
To  its  territory,  the  United  States  had  given  up 
any  claim  by  the  treaty  of  1819  with  Spain,  and  it 
was  regarded  as  a  province  of  Mexico  during  all 
of  the  troubles  which  succeeded  the  overthrow  of 
the  Spanish  authority.  There  was  little  sympathy, 
either  of  race,  religion  or  ideal,  between  the  Texan 
and  the  Mexican,  and  eventually  the  Texans  de 
manded  to  be  separated  from  Coahuila,  with  which 
province  their  state  had  been  combined  by  the 
Mexican  Constitution  of  1827.  This  demand  was 
refused,  and  the  Texans  rebelled,  and  by  the  one 
victory  of  San  Jacinto  in  1836,  the  Mexican  author 
ity  was  overthrown.  At  once  the  Southern  leaders 
demanded  that  Texas  should  be  admitted  as  a  state 
of  the  Union,  and  while  the  demand  was  opposed 
at  the  North,  the  election  of  1844  was  regarded  as  a 
victory  for  annexation,  and  on  March  1,  1845, 
President  Tyler  signed  a  resolution  admitting  Texas 
to  the  American  Union. 

As  Mexico  had  never  formally  recognized  the  in 
dependence  of  Texas,  this  action  might  have  been 
regarded  as  a  casus  belli,  and  yet  there  is  good 
reason  to  believe  that  war  would  have  been 
averted  if  a  moderate  policy  had  been  adopted. 
The  immediate  cause  of  the  conflict  was  a  boundary 
dispute.  Texas  claimed  that  its  southwestern  limit 
was  the  Eio  Grande,  while  Mexico  would  concede 
only  to  the  Neuces  Eiver,  about  one  hundred  and 
fifty  miles  to  the  east  on  the  coast  line.  Hostilities 
therefore  were  precipitated  over  the  control  of  a 


54  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

narrow  strip  of  land  between  the  two  rivers,  which 
at  this  time  was  almost  uninhabited.  The  Texan 
question  was  the  leading  national  problem  during 
Grant's  residence  at  St.  Louis,  and  the  determining 
factor  in  sending  him  to  the  field  of  battle. 

In  May,  1844,  the  garrison  at  St.  Louis  was 
ordered  to  the  South.  Having  just  received  a 
brief  furlough,  Grant  hastened  to  Bethel,  for  his 
last  vacation  at  home  for  over  four  years.  Upon 
his  return  to  St.  Louis,  he  found  orders  to  join  his 
regiment,  but  he  took  time  to  ride  out  to  White 
Haven,  and  there  to  declare  his  love.  Fortunately, 
his  affection  was  reciprocated,  and  Miss  Julia  Dent 
was  willing  to  await  her  soldier's  return, — so  with 
a  new-found  impulse  in  life,  Grant  went  down  the 
Mississippi  River  and  overtook  the  Fourth  in  the 
piue  woods  near  Natchitoches,  at  Fort  Salubrity. 
Here  he  spent  over  a  year  in  a  healthy,  busy,  out- 
of-door  life,  under  most  delightful  auspices.  In 
May,  1845,  he  obtained  a  short  leave  of  absence 
and  went  to  St.  Louis,  where  he  secured  the  re 
luctant  consent  of  Colonel  Dent  to  his  engagement 
with  Julia.  A  few  days  the  lovers  spent  together 
and  then  they  parted,  not  to  meet  again  until  the 
war  should  have  been  fought,  and  the  knight  had 
fairly  won  his  spurs. 

In  July,  1845,  the  regiment  was  ordered  to  New 
Orleans,  then  in  the  throes  of  a  yellow  fever  epi 
demic,  and  after  two  months  in  barracks,  they  were 
shipped  by  sailing  vessels  to  Texas,  landing  at 
Corpus  Christi  at  the  mouth  of  the  Neuces  River. 


ELEVEN  YEARS  IN  THE  ARMY         65 

Here  there  was  gradually  assembled  an  "  Army  of 
Occupation,"  consisting  of  about  three  thousand 
men,  of  the  regular  army,  under  the  command  of 
Zachary  Taylor.  Several  months  were  spent  in 
organizing  this  force  into  a  quick-moving  column. 
When  the  young  officers  found  the  ennui  of  the 
winter  overpowering,  they  erected  a  theatre,  and 
Grant  participated  in  amateur  theatricals.  While 
in  camp  here,  he  received  his  commission  as  a  full 
second  lieutenant,  but  as  he  was  now  appointed  to 
the  Seventh  Infantry,  he  exchanged  with  Franklin 
Gardner,  afterward  Confederate  commander  at  Port 
Hudson,  so  as  to  be  returned  to  his  old  regiment. 

President  Polk  and  his  advisers  were  desirous 
that  the  Mexicans  should  make  the  first  aggressive 
move,  and  had  hoped  that  the  presence  of  Taylor's 
army  on  the  eastern  edge  of  the  disputed  terri 
tory  would  induce  the  Mexican  forces  to  attack. 
This  expectation  was  disappointed,  and  in  March, 
1846,  Taylor  was  ordered  westward  to  the  Rio 
Grande.  After  a  few  days'  march  over  a  desolate 
country,  the  Rio  Grande  was  reached,  and  Taylor 
at  once  started  the  erection  of  a  fort  opposite  to  the 
Mexican  city  of  Matamoras.  At  last  the  Mexicans 
were  aroused,  and  crossing  the  river,  they  attacked 
any  small  bodies  of  Americans  who  were  far  from 
camp.  In  one  of  these  skirmishes,  some  Americans 
were  killed,  and  so  finally  the  President  could  an 
nounce  that  "American  blood  had  been  shed  on 
American  soil."  A  declaration  of  war  resulted, 
and  the  conflict  thus  commenced. 


56  ULYSSES  S.  GKAOT 

Leaving  Major  Brown  in  command  of  the  fort, 
Taylor  marched  his  main  body  to  his  base  of  sup 
plies  on  the  Gulf,  Point  Isabel,  just  above  the  mouth 
of  the  Eio  Grande.  With  some  reinforcements,  he 
then  started  upon  his  return  to  Fort  Brown,  twenty- 
five  miles  away.  It  was  evident  that  the  Mexicans 
had  taken  advantage  of  his  absence  to  invest  the 
fort,  and  had  possessed  themselves  of  the  interven 
ing  country  in  such  numbers  as  to  make  a  battle 
inevitable.  On  May  8th,  on  approaching  the  edge 
of  a  prairie  near  a  piece  of  woods  about  fourteen 
miles  from  the  fort,  Taylor  found  the  enemy  drawn 
up  in  line  of  battle.  Palo  Alto  is  the  Spanish  term 
for  "high  trees,"  and  here  the  first  battle  was 
fought.  Taylor  sent  forth  his  artillery,  meanwhile 
halting  his  men  out  of  the  range  of  the  antiquated 
and  poorly-served  Mexican  cannon.  After  a  few 
hours'  cannonade,  the  Mexicans  withdrew,  and 
made  their  next  stand  on  May  9th  at  Besaca  de  la 
Palma,  on  the  opposite  side  of  a  long  narrow  pond, 
flanked  by  a  heavy  growth  of  underbrush,  called 
chaparral.  Here  a  real  resistance  was  made  for 
about  two  hours,  but  by  judicious  flanking  move 
ments,  and  eventually  a  fervid  attack,  the  Ameri 
cans  succeeded  in  capturing  the  cannon  of  the 
Mexicans,  and  the  latter  fled  in  panic. 

These  were  Grant's  first  battles,  and  they  seemed 
to  him  to  be  "  pretty  important  affairs. "  At  Eesaca, 
his  captain  having  been  assigned  to  a  special  flank 
ing  work,  he  was  in  command  of  his  company. 
Once,  seeing  an  opening  between  two  ponds,  he 


ELEVEN  YEAES  IN  THE  AEMY         57 

ordered  his  men  to  the  charge,  and  took  a  few 
prisoners.  His  chagrin  may  be  imagined,  however, 
when  presently  an  American  soldier  returned  from 
the  front  with  a  wounded  officer,  and  Grant  learned 
that  this  ground  had  been  already  charged  over  and 
won.  uThis  left  no  doubt  in  my  mind,"  says  he, 
"  that  the  battle  of  Eesaca  de  la  Palma  would  have 
been  won,  just  the  same,  if  I  had  not  been  there. " 
Writing  to  a  friend  shortly  after,  he  said  :  "  You 
want  to  know  what  my  feelings  were  on  the  field  of 
battle.  I  do  not  know  that  I  felt  any  peculiar 
sensation.  War  seems  much  less  terrible  to  persons 
engaged  in  it  than  to  those  who  read  of  the  battles. " 
Upon  learning  of  the  declaration  of  war,  Taylor 
transferred  his  army  to  the  south  side  of  the  Eio 
Grande,  and  took  possession  of  Matamoras.  Here 
he  was  joined  by  substantial  reinforcements,  in 
cluding  an  Ohio  regiment,  of  which  the  major  was 
Thomas  L.  Hamer,  who,  several  years  before,  had 
nominated  Grant  to  West  Point,  and  who  now  re 
newed  a  loyal  friendship  with  his  former  neighbor.1 

1  In  a  letter  written  from  Camargo,  Hamer  said,  "  I  have 
found  in  Lieutenant  Grant  a  most  remarkable  and  valuable 
young  soldier.  I  anticipate  for  him  a  brilliant  future  if  he 
should  have  an  opportunity  to  display  his  powers  when  they 
mature.  Young  as  he  is,  he  has  been  of  great  value  and  service 
to  me.  To-day,  after  being  freed  from  the  duty  of  wrestling 
with  the  problems  of  reducing  a  train  of  refractory  mules  and 
their  drivers  to  submissive  order,  we  rode  into  the  country 
several  miles,  and  taking  our  position  upon  an  elevated  mound, 
he  explained  to  me  many  army  evolutions  ;  and  supposing  our 
selves  to  be  generals  commanding  opposite  armies,  and  a  battle 
to  be  in  progress,  he  explained  supposititious  manoeuvres  of  the 
opposing  forces  in  a  most  instructive  way ;  and  when  I  thought 


58  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

In  August,  Taylor  marched  up  the  Eio  Grande  to 
Caruargo,  the  head  of  navigation  on  the  river,  and 
then  went  into  the  interior,  intent  upon  the  capture 
of  Monterey,  the  leading  city  of  Northern  Mexico. 
At  Camargo,  Grant  was  appointed  quartermaster 
and  commissary  of  his  regiment.  This  new  duty 
removed  him  from  the  line  of  battle,  and  caused 
several  unavailing  protests  on  his  part ;  eventually, 
however,  he^  found  it  possible  to  perform  his  full 
duty  in  this  service  and  yet  to  participate  in  the 
actual  fighting. 

Monterey  was  a  fortified  town  of  from  fifteen  to 
twenty  thousand  population.  It  was  defended  by 
General  Ampudia  with  about  ten  thousand  men. 
Taylor,  with  little  more  than  one- half  of  this  force, 
sighted  the  town  on  September  19,  1846,  and  at 
once  planned  his  attack.  General  Worth,  with  his 
division,  was  assigned  the  task  of  storming  the 
Bishop's  Palace,  approaching  from  the  west  by  the 
Saltillo  road.  The  other  divisions,  under  Generals 
Butler  and  Twiggs,  were  drawn  up  to  threaten  the 
north  and  east  sides  of  the  city,  in  support  of  the 
main  attack  under  Worth.  The  resistance  was 
stubborn,  and  as  all  the  advantages  of  position  and 
numbers  were  with  Ampudia,  the  Americans  made 
but  slow  headway.  Eventually  Quitm an7 s  Brigade, 

his  imaginary  force  had  my  army  routed,  he  suddenly  suggested 
a  strategic  move  for  my  forces  which  crowned  them  with 
triumphant  victory,  and  himself  with  defeat  and  he  ended  by 
gracefully  offering  to  surrender  his  sword  !  Of  course,  Lieuten 
ant  Grant  is  too  young  for  command,  but  his  capacity  for  future 
military  usefulness  is  undoubted." 


ELEVEN  YEAES  IN  THE  AEMY         59 

to  which  the  Fourth  Infantry,  under  Lieutenant- 
Colonel  Garland,  was  attached,  forced  an  entrance  at 
the  east  end  of  the  city,  and  fought  its  way  down  the 
main  street  to  the  well-fortified  plaza.  At  one  time 
Garland,  finding  his  ammunition  running  low,  called 
for  a  volunteer  to  ride  to  the  division  commander, 
General  Twiggs,  for  new  supplies.  It  was  a 
desperate  commission,  as  the  messenger  must  ride 
down  an  avenue  in  which  every  crossroad  was  oc 
cupied  by  well-armed  Mexicans.  Grant  at  once 
offered  himself,  and  riding  Indian  fashion,  with  one 
foot  over  the  saddle  and  his  hand  in  the  horse's 
mane,  rode  through  a  torrent  of  fire  to  the  com 
manding  officer,  and  so  fulfilled  his  mission. 
Eventually,  Garland's  attack  was  repulsed,  but 
meanwhile  Worth  had  been  approaching  from  the 
other  side,  and  by  directing  his  men  to  break 
through  the  flimsy  walls  of  the  houses,  prevented 
the  Mexicans  from  utilizing  the  advantages  of  their 
position.  When  the  plaza  was  reached,  Ampudia 
surrendered  and  Monterey  was  fairly  won. 

The  success  of  Taylor's  campaign  had  aroused 
much  enthusiasm  at  home,  and  had  given  to  "  Old 
Bough  and  Beady,"  as  he  was  commonly  called,  an 
unbounded  popularity.  It  was  evident  that  some 
political  leaders,  always  keen  to  appreciate  the  ad 
vantage  of  military  glory  in  a  candidate,  were  al 
ready  canvassing  the  possibilities  in  his  name  for 
the  Presidency.  Considerations  of  political  ex 
pediency,  therefore,  were  not  without  their  influence 
in  determining  the  administration  to  send  another 


60  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

army  to  Mexico,  and  for  the  command,  General 
Winfield  Scott,  the  head  of  the  army,  although  in 
his  sixty-first  year,  was  appointed.  He  had  urged 
strongly  the  necessity  of  striking  a  blow  at  the 
capital  city,  so  as  to  conclude  a  peace  in  the  Hall  of 
the  Montezumas.  When  this  expedition  was  finally 
authorized,  Scott  withdrew  some  regiments  of  reg 
ulars  from  Taylor,  including  the  Fourth  Infantry, 
and  even  empowered  him  to  fall  back  to  the  line  of 
the  Bio  Grande.  But  the  latter  was  reluctant  to 
give  up  the  territory  which  had  been  won  with  so 
much  sacrifice,  and  consequently  with  his  depleted 
forces,  he  was  exposed  to  an  overwhelming  attack 
from  the  Mexicans  under  their  President,  the  enter 
prising  Santa  Anna.  But  in  February,  1847,  at  the 
battle  of  Buena  Vista,  Taylor  won  a  complete  vic 
tory  over  an  enemy  outnumbering  his  army  four 
fold,  and  so  closed  the  campaign  in  North  Mexico 
with  a  continuous  record  of  triumphs. 

This  was  the  only  considerable  battle  of  the  war 
in  which  Grant  was  not  a  participant.  In  December, 
1846,  his  regiment  was  sent  to  the  mouth  of  the  Rio 
Grande  to  await  the  assembling  of  the  Army  of  In 
vasion.  It  was  March,  1847,  before  Scott  had  finally 
disembarked  his  men  three  miles  south  of  Vera 
Cruz,  and  a  little  band  of  eleven  thousand  Ameri 
cans  set  out  to  overthrow  an  empire  of  seven  mil 
lions.  Vera  Cruz,  then  a  walled  city  with  a  fortress 
on  an  island  in  the  harbor,  was  the  gateway  to 
Mexico.  It  was  quickly  invested,  and  subjected  to 
a  vigorous  bombardment.  After  a  few  days,  Gen- 


ELEVEN  YEARS  IN  THE  AEMY         61 

eral  Morales  indicated  a  willingness  to  surrender, 
and  on  March  29,  1847,  the  fortress  and  city  were 
occupied  by  the  Americans. 

Without  delaying  to  enjoy  the  fruits  of  victory, 
Scott  decided  to  push  into  the  interior  at  once,  in 
order  to  reach  the  high  and  healthy  ground  before 
the  season  of  the  fever.  The  City  of  Mexico  was 
situated  about  two  hundred  and  sixty  miles  to  the 
west,  and  the  route  which  the  Americans  adopted 
involved  the  occupation  of  Jalapa  and  Puebla, 
both  populous  and  important  cities.  In  the  second 
week  of  April,  the  invaders  started  on  their  western 
march,  but  on  April  18th,  when  they  arrived  at 
Cerro  Gordo,  about  twelve  or  fifteen  miles  east  of 
Jalapa,  they  found  the  Mexicans  entrenched  in  a 
position  of  great  natural  strength.  The  road  here 
zigzagged  around  a  high  mountain,  and  was  de 
fended  at  every  turn  by  artillery,  and  protected  on 
the  sides  by  chasms  or  mountain  walls.  Since  di 
rect  progress  was  blocked,  the  engineers  cut  paths 
over  the  mountains  to  the  rear  of  the  Mexicans,  and 
placed  artillery  in  position  to  command  the  enemy, 
traveling  by  paths  which  Santa  Anna  confessed  that 
he  did  not  think  even  a  goat  could  have  used. 
Whereupon,  the  greater  portion  of  the  Mexican 
forces  fled  in  disorder,  leaving  artillery,  stores  and 
three  thousand  prisoners.  Years  afterward,  in  com 
menting  upon  Scott's  superb  leadership,  Grant  said 
of  Cerro  Gordo,  "  This  attack  was  made  as  ordered, 
and  perhaps  there  was  not  a  battle  of  the  Mexican 
War,  or  any  other,  where  orders  issued  before  an 


62  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

engagement  were  nearer  being  a  correct  report  of 
what  afterward  took  place." 

u  Between  the  thrashing  the  Mexicans  have  got 
at  Bueua  Vista,  Vera  Cruz  and  Cerro  Gordo,  they 
are  so  completely  broken  up  that  if  we  only  had 
transportation  we  could  go  to  the  City  of  Mexico 
and  wherever  else  we  liked  without  resistance."  So 
wrote  Grant  to  a  friend  on  May  3d,  when  the  army 
was  recuperating  in  the  high  ground  around  Jalapa. 
Here  Scott  was  obliged  to  delay  several  mouths 
awaiting  reinforcements  to  take  the  place  of  the  men 
whose  period  of  enlistment  had  expired.  At  one 
time  his  army  was  reduced  to  5,000  men,  but  he 
pushed  forward  his  advance  guard  to  Perote  and 
Puebla,  and  by  August  he  had  received  sufficient 
forces  to  enable  him  to  renew  his  triumphant  march. 

The  City  of  Mexico  is  situated  in  a  wide,  flat  val 
ley,  7,000  feet  above  sea-level,  surrounded  by  moun 
tains  and  lakes  iu  a  position  of  great  natural  strength. 
Having  determined  upon  his  line  of  approach,  Scott, 
on  August  20th,  made  his  initial  attack  on  the  vil 
lage  of  Coutreras,  when  the  Americans  advanced 
with  such  impetuosity  as  to  rout  the  enemy  in  fif 
teen  minutes.  At  the  same  time  another  division 
was  advancing  on  the  causeway  which  led  to  the 
village  of  Churubusco,  and  here  the  Americans  en 
countered  the  most  stubborn  resistance  of  the  cam 
paign.  But  the  valor  of  the  invaders,  and  the 
strategy  of  their  commanders,  which  later  Grant 
pronounced  to  be  "faultless,"  culminated  in  the 
usual  result,  and  the  Mexicans  gave  up  their  posi- 


ELEVEN  YEAES  IN  THE  AEMY         63 

tion  with  great  loss  in  numbers,  equipment  and 
morale.  Negotiations  were  now  opened  for  peace, 
and  for  a  few  weeks  the  armies  rested ;  but  Scott 
soon  concluded  that  the  enemy  was  sparring  for 
time,  and  on  September  8th,  the  advance  was  re 
sumed  with  an  attack  by  Worth's  division  upon 
Moliuo  del  Eey,  or  "The  King's  Mills."  Scott 
had  heard  that  this  place  was  used  as  a  cannon 
foundry,  and  so  desired  to  take  possession  of  it. 
When  the  Mexicans  were  finally  driven  into  the 
mill,  Grant,  who  was  in  the  forefront  of  the  charge, 
found  his  classmate  Dent  seriously  wounded,  and  by 
his  coolness  and  skill  in  all  human  probability 
saved  the  life  of  his  future  brother-in-law. 

The  last  defense  of  the  capital  was  the  castle  of 
Chapul tepee,  a  strongly  manned  fortress  on  an 
eminence,  formerly  used  as  a  military  academy. 
On  September  13th,  the  invaders  stormed  this  po 
sition,  and  after  a  battle  in  which  the  resistance  was 
unusually  prolonged,  won  what  proved  to  be  the 
final  victory  of  the  war.  Here  two  opportunities 
for  personal  distinction  came  to  Grant,  both  of 
which  he  accepted  with  the  readiness  of  the  re 
sourceful  soldier.  In  the  retreat  from  Chapultepec, 
Grant  was  with  the  advance  of  his  division,  when 
at  a  turn  in  the  road  the  Americans  were  blocked 
by  the  fierce  fire  of  the  Mexicans.  By  a  personal 
reconnoitre  he  found  a  path  to  the  rear  of  the 
enemy's  position,  under  the  protection  of  the  wall 
of  a  hacienda,  and  with  a  few  men,  who  willingly 
followed  his  leadership,  he  placed  the  Mexicans  un- 


64  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

der  two  fires  and  so  forced  their  position.  Later  in 
the  pursuit  he  took  possession  of  the  church  on  the 
San  Cosme  road  and  dragged  a  mountain  howitzer 
over  several  ditches  breast-high  with  water  to  the 
top  of  the  bell-tower,  thus  enabling  him  to  shell  the 
houses  and  roads  in  which  the  Mexicans  were 
massed,  to  the  astonishment  and  dismay  of  the 
enemy.  The  success  of  this  enterprise  was  noted  by 
General  Worth,  who  sent  a  staff  officer,  Lieutenant 
Penibertou,  afterward  Grant's  opponent  at  Vicks- 
burg,  to  bring  Grant  to  him,  and  then  directed  that 
a  second  howitzer  be  placed  in  the  tower.  "  I  did 
not  tell  the  General  that  there  was  not  room  enough 
in  the  steeple  for  another  gun,"  says  Grant,  who 
never  regarded  Worth  with  favor,  u  because  he 
probably  would  have  looked  upon  such  a  statement 
as  a  contradiction  from  a  second  lieutenant." 

Successive  victories  had  broken  the  fighting  spirit 
of  the  Mexicans.  During  the  night  Santa  Anna 
fled  with  the  remnant  of  his  army,  and  on  Septem 
ber  14th  General  Scott  in  triumph  marched  into  the 
city. 

Of  all  that  took  place  in  these  stirring  times 
Grant  was  a  close  observer.  General  Taylor  with 
his  simplicity  and  sturdiness,  General  Scott  with  his 
love  of  parade  and  martial  glory,  the  various  divi 
sion  and  regimental  commanders, — from  all  of  these 
he  was  able  to  learn  valuable  lessons  in  the  conduct 
of  war.  His  long  service  as  quartermaster  gave  him 
an  unusual  insight  into  the  organization  of  an  army, 
and  the  management  of  its  business,  which  later  on 


ELEVEN  YEARS  IN  THE  ARMY         65 

was  to  contribute  greatly  to  his  effectiveness  as  a 
commander.  He  now  had  also  his  first  opportunity 
to  observe  the  life  of  a  foreign  people,  and  his  ex 
periences  during  the  nine  months'  occupation  of  the 
City  of  Mexico,  while  the  terms  of  peace  were  being 
determined,  gave  him  a  warm  admiration  for  the 
Mexican,  which  was  often  asserted  in  later  life. 
Unlike  some  of  his  associates,  he  did  not  underrate 
the  enemy,  and  brand  him  with  cowardice.  He  saw 
clearly  that  the  successive  Mexican  defeats  were  due 
to  administrative  disorganization,  inefficient  leader 
ship,  and  to  a  lack  of  national  consciousness.  ' '  The 
trouble  seemed  to  be  the  lack  of  experience  among 
the  officers  which  led  them  after  a  time  to  simply 
quit,  without  being  particularly  whipped,  but  be 
cause  they  had  fought  enough." 

While  the  capital  was  occupied  by  the  Ameri 
cans,  Grant,  from  curiosity,  attended  a  bull-fight, 
and  recorded  that  "  the  sight  to  me  was  sickening." 
In  company  with  a  party  of  other  officers,  he  as 
cended  Popocatepetl,  the  great  volcano,  and  later 
went  through  the  famous  Mexican  caves.  In  the 
City  of  Mexico  the  invaders  organized  the  Aztec 
Club,  of  which  Franklin  Pierce  was  the  first  presi 
dent,  and  whose  original  membership  included 
McClellan,  Hooker,  Porter,  Lee,  Johnston,  Beaure- 
gard,  Hardee,  Ewell  and  Grant.  There  were  many 
opportunities  for  Grant  to  become  well  acquainted 
with  these  leaders,  among  whom  later  on,  in  the 
Civil  War,  he  was  destined  to  win  his  imperishable 
renown. 


66  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

Meanwhile,  Grant  was  attracting  the  attention  of 
his  superiors.  In  September,  1847,  he  was  ad 
vanced  to  a  first  lieutenancy,  and  when  the  final  re 
ports  of  the  military  operations  were  prepared,  it 
was  found  that  he  was  personally  commended  for 
gallantry  and  resourcefulness  by  Captain  Horace 
Brooks,  of  the  Second  Artillery,  Major  Lee,  of  the 
Fourth  Infantry,  and  General  Garland,  of  his 
brigade.  And  in  the  report  of  General  Worth,  his 
work  with  the  mountain  howitzer  at  Chapultepec 
was  mentioned.  As  quartermaster,  he  showed  his 
enterprise  in  renting  a  bakery  and  operating  it  for 
the  benefit  of  the  regiment,  so  providing  funds  for 
the  band.  On  the  return  from  Mexico,  however,  he 
met  with  a  misfortune  which  caused  him  consider 
able  annoyance  and  chagrin.  As  the  lock  of  his 
chest  was  broken,  he  deposited  $1,000  of  the  funds 
of  the  regiment  with  Captain  Gore,  and  one  night 
the  latter' s  trunk,  containing  this  deposit,  was 
stolen  from  his  tent.  Grant  at  once  reported  the 
loss,  and  forwarded  corroborative  affidavits,  and  he 
was  exonerated  from  all  blame.  Not  until  1862, 
however,  in  the  early  days  of  the  Civil  War,  was  a 
resolution  finally  passed  in  Congress  releasing  the 
quartermaster  from  all  personal  liability  in  the 
matter. 

The  war  with  Mexico  was  ended  on  February  2, 
1848,  by  the  Treaty  of  Guadalupe  Hidalgo,  which 
ceded  Texas,  California,  New  Mexico  and  Arizona 
to  the  United  States,  as  well  as  a  large  portion 
of  several  other  states,  upon  payment  of  $15,000,- 


ELEVEN  YEAES  IN  THE  AEMY         67 

000. l  Some  months  elapsed  before  the  treaty  was 
finally  ratified,  but  in  June,  1848,  the  army  started 
on  its  return  to  Vera  Cruz.  Grant's  regiment  was 
ordered  to  Mississippi,  but  he  obtained  a  leave 
of  absence,  and  at  once  returned  to  St.  Louis  to 
fulfil  a  promise  of  four  years7  standing.  During 
this  period  he  had  attained  to  honorable  distinction 
and  had  rendered  special  service  on  three  different 
battle-fields, — he  had  won  his  first  promotion  and 
two  brevets  for  gallantry,  and  he  had  a  personal 
claim  to  a  cordial  welcome  from  the  family  at  White 
Haven,  because  of  his  service  at  Molino  to  the 
brother  of  his  betrothed.  On  August  22,  1848,  the 
young  couple,  whose  fidelity  had  been  tested  by 
four  years  of  separation,  were  quietly  married,'2  and 
Grant  at  once  took  his  bride  to  the  East  on  a  visit 
to  his  own  family.  A  few  happy  weeks  were  spent 
with  Jesse  Grant  at  Bethel,  and  later  with  relatives 
at  Bantam  and  Georgetown.  From  his  old  neigh 
bors,  Grant  received  a  welcome  whose  cordiality 
showed  their  pride  in  his  excellent  start.  His 


1  Extract  from  General  Scott's  testimony  before  a  Congres 
sional  Committee  :     "I  give  it  as  my  fixed  opinion,  that  but 
for  our  graduated  cadets,  the  war  between  the  United  States 
and  Mexico  might,  and  probably  would,  have  lasted  some  four 
or  five  years,  with,  in  its  first  half,  more  defeats  than  victories 
falling  to  our  share ;  whereas,  in  less  than  two  campaigns,  we 
conquered  a  great  country  and  a  peace,  without  the  loss  of  a 
single  battle  or  skirmish." 

2  Among  the  young  officers  who  attended  the  wedding  were 
Cadmus  M.  "Wiloox,  who  was  one  of  the  groomsmen,  and  James 
Longstreet,  both  of  whom  were  afterward  officers  in  the  Con 
federate  Army,  and  included  in  the  surrender  at  Appomattox. 


68  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

father  and  mother  rejoiced,  the  latter  more  quietly 
than  the  former,  in  the  promise  of  his  career.  His 
stories  of  the  war  were  clearly  told,  and  all  of  the 
stay-at-homes  crowded  to  listen.  These  were  halcyon 
days ! 

On  November  17,  1848,  Lieutenant  Grant  joined 
his  regiment  at  Detroit,  and  a  few  days  afterward, 
was  ordered  to  Sacketts  Harbor,  on  Lake  Ontario, 
where  he  and  Mrs.  Grant  lived  in  the  barracks 
until  the  following  spring.  In  April  he  returned 
to  Detroit  for  two  years  of  garrison  duty.  There  is 
but  little  to  record  of  this  period  of  his  service.  He 
lived  very  modestly,  but  his  quarters  were  cozy  and 
homelike.  He  was  always  sociable  and  attended 
with  his  wife  the  various  functions  of  the  officers  of 
the  garrison.  His  love  of  fast  horses  was  his  only 
special  characteristic,  and  generally  caused  his  only 
extravagances.  At  Sacketts  Harbor  he  attended 
church,  and  aided  in  organizing  a  lodge  of  the  Sons 
of  Temperance  at  the  barracks.  He  once  remarked 
to  a  friend  in  refusing  to  join  a  drinking  party,  "  I 
heard  John  B.  Gough  lecture  a  short  time  ago,  and 
I  have  become  convinced  that  there  is  no  safety 
from  ruin  by  liquor  except  by  abstaining  from  it 
altogether."  His  Mexican  experiences  gave  him 
abundant  subjects  for  conversation,  and  his  clear 
and  vivid  explanations  of  the  campaigns  helped 
him  to  establish  a  reputation  for  sociability  among 
his  comrades.  In  1850,  Mrs.  Grant  returned  for  a 
time  to  her  father's  home,  where  a  son  was  born, 
who  was  named  Frederick  Dent  Grant,  and  so  the 


ELEVEN  YEAES  IN  THE  AEMT         69 

perfect  joy  of  married  life  was  finally  attained.1 
Afterward  the  mother  and  child  came  back  to  the 
garrison,  and  the  reunited  family  spent  a  happy 
winter  together.  An  unusual  incident  brought 
Grant  into  a  controversy  with  Zachary  Chandler, 
then  a  rising  young  merchant,  but  later  a  national 
leader  of  the  Eepublicau  party.  Grant  filed  a  sworn 
complaint  against  Chandler  for  violating  a  local 
ordinance  requiring  the  removal  of  ice  from  the 
sidewalk,  but  although  he  proved  his  case,  public 
sympathy  with  the  civilian  induced  a  fine  of  but  six 
cents  and  costs  ! 

Nothing  detracts  so  much  from  the  enjoyment  of 
domestic  life  by  an  army  officer  as  the  uncertainty 
of  his  location.  In  June,  1851,  Grant  was  again  or 
dered  to  Sacketts  Harbor,  in  preparation  for  re 
moval  to  the  Pacific  coast,  where  the  tremendous 
emigration  had  brought  about  problems  which 
necessitated  the  maintenance  of  extensive  garri 
sons.  The  final  orders  came  in  the  spring  of 
1852,  and  as  the  regiment  was  to  be  transported 
by  way  of  Panama,  the  hardship  of  travel  made 
it  impossible  for  the  wife  and  child  to  accompany 
him.  So  it  was  decided  that  Grant  should  go  alone, 
and  his  family  returned  to  Bethel  (where  the  sec 
ond  son,  Ulysses  S.,  Jr.,  was  born),  and  later  went 
to  White  Haven. 

On  July  5,  1852,  eight  companies  of  the  Fourth 
embarked  from  Governor's  Island,  New  York,  on 

1  Afterward  a  graduate  of  West  Point  and  Major-General  in 
the  Army  of  the  United  States. 


70  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

the  steamer  Ohio.  There  were  over  eight  hundred 
in  the  expedition  including  women  and  children,  as 
well  as  civilian  passengers,  and  for  several  days 
they  endured  all  of  the  discomforts  of  ocean  travel 
in  tropical  weather,  with  insufficient  accommoda 
tion.  At  Aspinwall  on  the  east  side  of  the  Isthmus, 
they  found  but  scanty  transportation  provided,  and 
Grant,  as  quartermaster,  was  obliged  to  assume  en 
tire  charge  of  the  business  arrangements  of  the 
party.  When  eventually  they  reached  the  Pacific, 
the  cholera  was  raging  and  many  died, — thirty- 
seven  in  one  day.  "  About  one-seventh  of  those 
who  left  New  York  harbor  with  the  Fourth  In 
fantry  .  .  .  now  lie  buried  on  the  Isthmus," 
said  Grant.  The  epidemic  threw  a  heavy  responsi 
bility  on  the  young  commissary,  and  right  man 
fully  did  he  meet  it.  Hospital  facilities  were  to  be 
provided,  medicine  to  be  supplied,  the  dead  must  be 
buried  and  their  effects  cared  for,  and  all  of  the  de 
tails  were  in  his  hands.  Later  on,  one  who  had 
taken  this  unfortunate  trip  said  :  "  Grant  seemed  to 
be  a  man  of  iron,  so  far  as  endurance  went,  seldom 
sleeping,  and  then  only  two  or  three  hours  at  a 
time.  .  .  .  He  was  like  a  ministering  angel  to 
us  all." 

When  the  plague  had  run  its  course,  the  survivors 
were  taken  to  San  Francisco,  and  then  after  several 
weeks  to  Fort  Vancouver,  on  the  Columbia  River, 
where  Grant  served  for  one  year.  In  July,  1853,  in 
the  performance  of  his  duties  as  quartermaster,  he 
fitted  out  the  expedition  for  the  first  survey  of  the 


ELEVEN  YEARS  IN  THE  ARMY         71 

Northern  Pacific  Railroad,  then  under  the  charge  of 
George  B.  McClellan,  and  for  several  weeks  these 
two  young  officers  were  in  close  association.  The 
life  at  Vancouver  was  not  congenial  to  Grant ;  he 
had  enjoyed  domestic  life  so  keenly  in  the  prior 
period  that  now  he  felt  to  an  unusual  degree  the 
absence  of  his  family.  Once  he  showed  to  an  old 
artillery  sergeant  a  letter  whereon  his  wife  had  laid 
the  baby's  hand  and  traced  its  outline  with  a  pencil, 
and  his  friend  records  that  as  he  folded  the  letter, 
while  he  said  nothing,  his  eyes  were  wet.  More 
over,  with  an  increasing  family,  there  were  weighty 
responsibilities.  In  order  to  add  to  his  income  he 
entered  into  business  ventures  which,  with  the 
fatality  that  followed  him  through  life,  resulted  in 
variably  in  loss.  In  association  with  Lieutenant 
Wallen,  he  rented  a  piece  of  ground  and  planted 
potatoes  as  a  speculation  ;  but  others  had  done  the 
same,  so  the  market  was  over-supplied,  and  even 
tually  when  the  river  floods  washed  away  their 
crop,  the  farmers  rejoiced.  He  went  into  a  partner 
ship  with  his  classmate,  Rufus  Ingalls,  to  cut  and 
ship  ice  to  San  Francisco,  but  adverse  winds  held 
back  their  boat  until  the  ice  was  of  little  value. 
He  next  became  interested  in  buying  and  selling 
hogs,  and  lost  some  of  his  small  savings  in  this 
venture.  At  length  he  was  promoted  to  a  cap 
taincy,  and  ordered  to  Fort  Humboldt,  two  hun 
dred  and  forty  miles  north  of  San  Francisco.  Here 
he  served  during  the  winter  of  1853-1854,  until 
April,  when,  discouraged  by  the  outlook  and  dis- 


72  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

appointed  with  himself,   he  determined  to  retire 
from  the  army. 

He  was  now  to  learn  the  first  essential  of  success, 
— the  necessity  of  self -conquest ! 


CHAPTEE  IV 

THE  YEARS  OF  UNFULFILLED  PROMISE 

WHENEVER  a  mau  turns  aside  from  a  work  in 
which  he  has  made  a  good  start,  and  begins  along 
new  lines,  he  loses  impact  and  momentum  ;  especially 
is  this  the  case  when  the  career  he  abandons  is  one 
for  which  a  special  or  professional  training  is  re 
quired.  No  part  of  Grant's  life  has  caused  more 
controversy  than  the  period  of  seven  years  from  the 
beginning  of  his  service  at  Fort  Humboldt  to  the 
outbreak  of  the  Civil  War,  and  especially  the 
reasons  which  led  him  to  resign  from  the  army. 
No  consideration  of  hero-worship  can  justify  a 
garbled  version  of  the  facts,  and  the  truth  only  can 
give  a  proper  understanding  of  his  character. 

During  the  period  of  Grant's  life  on  the  Pacific, 
he  found  himself  identified  with  a  society  which  was 
new  and  unformed,  and  in  large  measure  primitive 
and  turbulent.  The  tremendous  migration,  follow 
ing  upon  the  discovery  of  gold  in  California,  had 
made  the  West  the  haven  for  wild  and  adventurous 
spirits,  not  only  of  America,  but  of  Europe  as  well. 
The  standards  of  life  were  yet  to  be  adopted,  and 
there  was  no  well-defined  social  tone  to  keep  con 
duct  under  restraint.  Many  of  the  soldiers  drank, 


74  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

some  to  excess,  and  it  is  not  strange  that  the  young 
captain,  far  removed  from  the  wholesome  influence 
of  wife  and  family,  also  yielded  to  temptation.  He 
was  not  an  habitual  drunkard,  but  occasionally  he 
would  drink  too  much, — he  afterward  learned  that  a 
little  would  go  far  in  the  mastery  of  his  peculiar 
system.  He  had  not  the  capacity  which  was  attrib 
uted  to  a  distinguished  contemporary  in  the  ser 
vice,  of  whom  it  was  said  that  he  could  consume  five 
bottles  of  champagne  at  one  sitting,  and  then  plan  a 
battle  !  When  Grant's  friends  remonstrated  with 
him,  he  acknowledged  his  error  and  would  promise 
amendment.  But  at  Fort  Humboldt  he  came  under 
influences  which  were  specially  chilling  to  one  suf 
fering  as  he  was  from  loneliness  and  homesickness. 
The  commander  of  the  post,  Lieutenant- Colonel 
Robert  C.  Buchanan,  was  a  martinet  of  an  unusually 
unsympathetic  type.  Tradition  records  of  him  that 
he  once  refused  to  receive  an  officer's  report,  declar 
ing  that  the  latter  was  not  in  uniform, — all  because 
his  collar  had  become  unhooked, — and  not  until 
some  other  had  pointed  out  the  fault  to  the  unfor 
tunate  subordinate  was  he  allowed  to  proceed  with 
his  duty.  Moreover,  Grant  was  no  longer  serving 
as  quartermaster,  and  lie  had  more  free  time  than  he 
had  been  accustomed  to  ;  the  ordinary  pleasures  of  a 
garrison, — dancing  and  social  life, — did  not  appeal  to 
him,  and  he  sought  his  recreation  in  long  hard  rides, 
generally  without  a  companion. 

One  day,  in  1854,  while  the  company  was  being 
paid  off,  Grant  was  at  the  pay-table  slightly  under 


YEAES  OP  UNFULFILLED  PKOMISE    75 

the  influence  of  liquor.  He  was  not  on  duty  ;  his 
offense  might  have  been  made  the  basis  for  friendly 
counsel  which,  to  the  lonely  and  discouraged  man, 
would  have  been  most  welcome.  But  when  Bu 
chanan  heard  of  this  breach,  he  at  once  sent  for 
Grant  and  gave  him  the  option  between  resigning 
or  standing  trial  on  charges.  Grant  forthwith  re 
signed,  and  this  ended  his  connection  with  the 
service.  Among  his  fellow-officers,  it  was  felt  that 
Buchanan  had  been  unnecessarily  harsh,  and  it  was 
the  general  feeling  that  if  Grant  had  stood  trial,  he 
might  not  have  been  condemned.1 

The  records  of  the  Adjutant- General's  office  at 
Washington  show  that  Grant  accepted  his  commis 
sion  as  captain  on  April  11,  1854,  and  on  the  same 
day  forwarded  his  resignation  to  take  effect  on  July 
31st.  Jefferson  Davis  was  then  Secretary  of  War, 
and  acting  upon  the  recommendation  of  the  various 
departmental  chiefs,  he  accepted  the  resignation, 
and  so  for  a  time  Grant's  connection  with  the  army 
ceased.  There  is  not  a  syllable  in  the  correspond 
ence  which  indicates  any  reason  for  the  retire 
ment. 

It  is  probable  that  Grant  reached  this  important 
conclusion  without  any  advice  or  suggestion  from 
those  at  home,  although  two  years  before,  when 
ordered  to  the  Pacific,  he  had  considered  resign 
ing  from  the  service.  Jesse  Grant  had  no  intima 
tion  of  his  son's  action,  until  the  final  letter  from 

lSee  "The  Truth  About  Grant"  iD  The  Army  and  Navy 
Journal,  for  June  6,  1908,— Vol.  XLV,  p.  1100. 


76  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

Davis  was  delivered  at  his  home  at  Bethel,  and  he 
wrote  a  characteristic  letter  to  Washington  in  the 
vain  hope  that  the  matter  might  be  reopened. l  But 


1  In  Hamlin  Garland's  "Ulysses  S.  Grant,  His  Life  and 
Character,"  an  abundance  of  new  biographical  matter  has  been 
collected,  through  the  industry  of  the  author,  and  among  other 
letters,  the  following : 

"Bethel,  Claremont  County,  June  1,  1854. 
"Hon.  Jefferson  Davis,  Secretary  of  War, 

"  DEAR  SIB:— Your  letter  of  the  7th  instant  enclosing 
acceptance  of  the  resignation  of  my  son,  Captain  U.  S.  Grant,  was 
received  a  few  days  ago  through  Thomas  A.  Ellyson.  That  was 
the  first  intimation  1  had  of  his  intention  to  resign. 

"If  it  is  consistent  with  your  powers  and  the  good  of  the 
servis  I  will  be  much  gratified  if  you  would  reconsider  and 
withdraw  the  acceptance  of  his  resignation  and  grant  him  a  six 
mouths'  leave  that  he  may  come  home  and  see  his  family. 

"I  never  wished  him  to  leave  the  servis.  I  think  after 
spending  so  much  time  to  qualify  himself  for  the  army  and 
spending  so  many  years  in  the  servis  he  will  be  poorly  quali 
fied  for  the  pursuits  of  private  life. 

"  He  has  been  eleven  years  an  officer,  was  in  all  the  battles 
of  Generals  Taylor  and  Scott  except  Buena  Vista,  never  absent 
from  his  post  during  the  Mexican  War  and  has  never  had  a 
leave  of  six  months,  would  it  then  be  asking  too  much  for  him 
to  have  such  leave  that  he  may  come  home  and  make  arrange 
ments  for  taking  his  family  with  him  to  his  post. 

"I  will  remark  that  he  has  not  seen  his  family  for  over  two 
years  and  has  a  son  nearly  two  years  old  he  has  never  seen.  I 
suppose  in  his  great  anxiety  to  see  his  family  he  has  been  ordered 
to  quit  the  servis. 

41  Please  write  me  and  let  me  know  the  results  of  this  request, 
and, 

"Respectfully,  yonr  obt.  servt., 

"J.  R.  GRANT." 

On  the  back  of  this  letter  appears  the  following  endorse 
ment  : 

"  Capt.  Grant's  tender  of  resignation  assigns  no  reason  for 
his  wish  to  leave  the  service  and  the  motives  which  influenced 
him  to  take  the  step  are  not  known  ;  he  merely  desired  that  the 


YEAES  OF  UNFULFILLED  PROMISE    77 

the  action  was  irrevocable,  and  his  son  was  now  to 
embark  on  a  new  career,  in  which  the  disappoint 
ments  and  failures  in  material  progress  would  be 
compensated  only  by  the  growth  in  character  and 
will. 

Grant  left  Fort  Humboldt  with  a  strong  liking 
for  the  West.  Until  the  latter  days  of  the  Civil 
War,  it  was  his  hope  some  day  to  return  to  the 
Pacific  coast  with  his  family.  But  meanwhile,  his 
problem  was  to  earn  a  livelihood,  and  the  first 
necessity  was  to  find  work.  When  he  arrived  at 
San  Francisco,  he  was  obliged  to  wait  for  transpor 
tation  for  several  weeks,  and  during  this  time  he 
unfortunately  trusted  his  small  savings  to  a  friend, 
who  promised  him  a  large  rate  of  interest.  When 
the  time  of  payment  drew  near,  the  debtor  de 
camped,  and  Grant  found  himself  almost  penniless. 

It  is  probable  that  at  this  time  he  passed  through 
the  darkest  hours  of  his  life,  when  he  realized  the 
combination  of  circumstances  which  had  made  him 
fortune's  plaything.  Some  of  his  army  friends, 

resignation  should  take  effect  July  31,  1854,  and  it  was  accepted 
accordingly  by  the  Secretary  of  War,  June  2d,  and  the  notifica 
tion  sent  out  to  the  army  the  same  day. 

"  Respectfully  submitted, 

"  W.  G.  FREEMAN, 
"Acting  Adjutant-General. 
"  June  27,  1854." 

Below  this  appears,  in  the  handwriting  of  Jefferson  Davis, 
the  final  entry  ; 

"  Answer  with  endorsement. 

"J.  D.» 


78  ULYSSES  S    GRANT 

however,  came  to  his  relief,  and  provided  for  his 
transportation  and  expenses  to  New  York,  and 
when  he  arrived  at  that  city,  again  some  of  the 
officers,  among  whom  was  Captain  Simon  B.  Buck- 
ner,  afterward  Confederate  commander  at  Fort 
Donelson,  raised  a  fund  to  take  him  to  Bethel. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  but  that  his  home-coming 
was  very  different  from  that  of  six  years  before. 
Jesse  Grant  was  keenly  disappointed  in  his  son,  and 
showed  it  in  all  that  he  said  and  did.  "  West  Point 
spoiled  one  of  my  sons  for  business,"  he  would  say, 
and  he  showed  little  disposition  to  be  generous  to 
one  whom  he  regarded  as  a  failure.  In  the  develop 
ment  of  character  it  is  probable  that  this  was  most 
wholesome  discipline  for  the  young  man ;  it  was 
necessary  so  that  when  the  next  opportunity  came 
it  should  not  be  trifled  with.  Somehow  the  iron 
must  be  driven  into  his  soul,  yet  Grant,  while  re 
membering  with  gratitude  the  devotion  and  faith  of 
his  mother  at  this  time,  was  always  pained  to  recol 
lect  the  lack  of  sympathy  which  he  received  from 
his  father  and  brothers  in  this  hour  of  dejection  and 
discouragement. 

From  Bethel  he  proceeded  to  St.  Louis,  and  at 
White  Haven  he  was  once  more  reunited  with  his 
wife  and  family.  Colonel  Dent  had  a  large  planta 
tion  of  about  one  thousand  acres.  In  1848,  upon  the 
marriage  of  his  daughter,  he  had  given  her  a  tract 
of  eighty  acres  as  a  wedding  present.  He  now 
loaned  Grant  $1,000  as  a  basis  for  his  future  work, 
and  with  dauntless  hearts  the  young  couple  started 


YEAES  OP  UNFULFILLED  PEOMISE    79 

out  to  earn  a  living.  For  the  first  winter  they  lived 
with  Colonel  Dent,  and  meanwhile  Grant  worked  on 
the  farm  as  an  ordinary  laborer.  But  the  next  year 
he  went  to  the  tract  belonging  to  his  wife,  and  with 
some  assistance  from  kindly  neighbors,  he  cut  the 
logs  and  built  a  cabin  of  four  rooms,  which,  in 
memory  of  the  struggle,  he  called  "  Hard  Scrabble. " 
It  was  more  ambitious  than  the  ordinary  cabin  of  the 
neighborhood,  being  cozy  and  homelike,  and  here 
the  family  lived  comfortably  for  three  years.  Dur 
ing  this  time  Grant  farmed,  aided  by  three  negro 
servants,  two  horses  and  a  cow  ;  lie  cut  and  hauled 
cord- wood  and  timbering  for  the  adjacent  mines, 
and  gradually  worked  his  land  with  some  success. 
Domestically,  it  was  a  happy  period,  especially  for 
a  man  in  whom  the  family  affections  had  been  starved 
during  long  years  of  absence,  but  there  was  little 
material  advance.  Grant  could  see  no  future  in  this 
kind  of  life,  and  as  his  family  increased,1  and  ex 
penses  multiplied,  he  was  anxious  to  be  established 
permanently  in  some  new  line.  Moreover,  he  suffered 
greatly  from  malaria,  and  after  a  prolonged  attack 
it  seemed  necessary  to  abandon  the  farm-life  for  the 
city. 

In  his  "Memoirs"  Grant  summarized  this  por 
tion  of  his  career  in  few  words  : 

"  In  the  late  summer  of  1854 1  rejoined  my  family, 

1  Plis  children  were  as  follows: 

1.  Frederick  Dent,  born  at  St.  Louis,  1850. 

2.  Ulysses  Simpson,  Jr.,  born  at  Bethel,  1852. 

3.  Nellie,  born  near  St.  Louis,  1855. 

4.  Jesse  Root,  born  near  St.  Louis,  1858. 


80  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

to  find  in  it  a  son  whom  I  had  never  seen,  born  while 
I  was  on  the  Isthmus  of  Panama.  I  was  now  to 
commence,  at  the  age  of  thirty-two,  a  new  struggle 
for  our  support.  My  wife  had  a  farm  near  St. 
Louis,  to  which  we  went,  but  I  had  no  means  to 
stock  it.  A  house  had  to  be  built  also.  I  worked 
very  hard,  never  losing  a  day  because  of  bad 
weather,  and  accomplished  the  object  in  a  moderate 
way.  If  nothing  else  could  be  done,  I  would  load  a 
cord  of  wood  on  a  wagon  and  take  it  to  the  city  for 
sale.  I  managed  to  keep  along  very  well  until 
1858,  when  I  was  attacked  by  fever  and  ague.  I 
had  suffered  very  severely  and  for  a  long  time  from 
this  disease  while  a  boy  in  Ohio.  It  lasted  now 
over  a  year,  and,  while  it  did  not  keep  me  in  the 
house,  it  did  interfere  greatly  with  the  amount  of 
work  I  was  able  to  perform.  In  the  fall  of  1858  I 
sold  out  my  stock,  crops  and  farming  utensils  at 
auction,  and  gave  up  farming." 

When  Grant  returned  to  St.  Louis,  he  bore  the 
marks  of  sickness  and  toil.  Work  and  worry  had 
aged  him  greatly,  and  his  youth  was  gone,  but  in 
its  place  he  had  obtained  a  self-mastery  which, 
added  to  his  inherited  reserve  and  restraint,  made 
him  eventually  a  man  of  force  and  power.  During 
the  next  two  years,  he  worked  in  several  lines  with 
indifferent  success,  impressing  all  who  knew  him 
with  his  honesty  and  sincerity  of  purpose,  but  also 
suggesting  an  inaptitude  for  ordinary  business  life 
so  strong  that  eventually  it  proved  characteristic. 
Colonel  Dent  soon  found  an  opening  for  his  son-in- 


YEAES  OF  UNFULFILLED  PEOMISE    81 

law  in  the  real  estate  business,  in  partnership  with 
Henry  Boggs,  also  a  family  connection.  The  firm 
of  u  Boggs  and  Grant"  rented  desk-room  in  the 
offices  of  McClelland,  Hilyer  and  Moody,  attorneys, 
and  bought  and  sold  realty,  collected  loans  and 
rents,  etc.  Some  Eastern  capital  was  secured  by  the 
senior  partner,  to  be  loaned  on  mortgage,  at  the 
higher  rate  of  interest  prevailing  in  the  West.  For 
a  time  the  business  prospered,  but  other  firms  en 
tering  into  the  same  field  divided  the  profits,  and 
there  was  not  a  sufficient  income  to  support  two 
families, — so  Boggs  presently  concluded  that  he 
could  work  alone  to  better  advantage. 

There  can  be  no  question  but  that  this  decision  of 
his  partner  was  a  great  blow  to  Grant.  He  had 
worked  hard  and  faithfully,  but  he  was  not  a  suc 
cess  at  collecting  rents  from  the  poor,  and  he  had  no 
genius  for  real  estate  speculation.  One  of  his  friends 
who  had  promised  to  purchase  a  house  from  him 
afterward  was  obliged  to  cancel  the  agreement,  and 
thus  described  Grant's  dismay, — "His  countenance 
was  transformed  to  severe  sadness.  He  could  hardly 
utter  a  word,  so  intense  was  his  disappointment.'7 
Writing  to  Jesse  Grant,  in  August,  1859,  he  said, 
"  I  do  not  want  to  fly  from  one  thing  to  another  ; 
nor  would  I ;  but  I  am  compelled  to  make  a  living 
from  the  start,  for  which  I  am  willing  to  give  all 
my  time  and  all  my  energy. "t 

His  next  efforts  were  along  wholly  different  lines. 
Jesse  Grant  urged  him  to  try  for  a  vacant  professor 
ship  of  mathematics  at  Washington  University,  but 


82  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

the  son  recognized  the  folly  of  an  application  when 
as  yet  there  was  no  achievement  in  scientific  lines, 
nor  publications  to  testify  to  scholarly  fitness.  He 
did  apply,  however,  for  the  position  of  county  en 
gineer,  and  submitted  a  statement  of  his  qualifica 
tions  from  his  classmate  at  West  Point,  Prof.  J.  J. 
Reynolds,  and  an  endorsement  signed  by  thirty-five 
representative  citizens  of  the  county.  The  appoint 
ment  was  to  be  made  by  a  board  of  five  commis 
sioners,  and  at  this  time  a  majority  were  Repub 
licans.  Politics  eventually  governed  the  decision, 
and  as  Grant  had  voted  for  Buchanan,  and  was 
known  as  a  Democrat,  and  as  his  father-in-law  was 
a  slaveholder  and  pro-southern  in  his  sympathies, 
his  claims  were  set  aside  in  favor  of  C.  E.  Salomon. 
Later,  Grant  secured  a  position  in  the  custom-house, 
but  within  a  month  the  collector  died,  and  he  was 
again  thrown  out  of  employment.  These  distressing 
experiences,  aided  perhaps  by  a  growing  lack  of 
congeniality  in  his  relations  with  Colonel  Dent, 
brought  him  to  the  conclusion  that  there  was  no 
future  in  St.  Louis,  and  again  he  appealed  to  his  fa 
ther. 

There  have  been  many  biographical  fables  about 
Grant's  life  in  St.  Louis,  and  some  of  those  who 
have  been  impressed  by  the  success  of  his  later  life 
have  felt  it  necessary  to  describe  this  period  as  a 
time  of  extreme  poverty.  Unquestionably,  tested 
by  contemporary  standards,  Grant  was  a  business 
failure  ;  he  had  not  succeeded  in  establishing  him 
self  in  any  settled  line  of  occupation,  and  hence  his 


YEAES  OF  UNFULFILLED  PEOMISE    83 

future  was  as  yet  uncertain  ;  he  had  incurred  debts, 
especially  during  his  last  year,  and  the  opportunity 
for  their  discharge  was  not  at  hand.  It  would  be  a 
mistake,  however,  to  conclude  from  these  facts  that 
he  lived  either  in  want  or  destitution.  He  de 
scribed  the  home  to  his  father  as  follows:  "We 
are  now  living  in  the  lower  part  of  the  city,  fully 
two  miles  from  my  office.  The  house  is  a  com 
fortable  little  one,  just  suited  to  my  means.  We 
have  one  spare  room,  and  also  a  spare  bed  in  the 
children's  room,  so  that  we  can  accommodate  any 
of  our  friends  that  are  likely  to  come  to  see  us.  I 
want  two  of  the  girls  [his  sisters]  or  all  of  them 
for  that  matter,  to  come  and  pay  us  a  long  visit 
soon." 

Even  when  in  great  financial  necessity  he  could 
contribute  a  load  of  wood  to  a  German  neighbor, 
who  had  lost  his  all  by  fire.  When  the  new  church 
was  to  be  built,  he  could  help  with  a  substantial 
donation.  It  was  his  lack  of  aggressiveness  in  the 
pursuit  of  money  which  caused  his  failure,  and  led 
to  a  low  estimate  of  the  man  and  his  abilities. 
General  Sherman  once  said, — a  I  recall  an  instance 
when  I  met  Grant  in  St.  Louis,  in  1857,  when  he 
was  a  farmer  in  the  county,  and  I,  too,  was  out  of 
the  military  service.  The  only  impression  left  on 
my  memory  is  that  I  then  concluded  that  West 
Point  and  the  regular  army  were  not  good  schools 
for  farmers,  bankers,  merchants  and  mechanics. " 

It  was  not  easy  for  the  sou  who  had  thus  failed 
to  turn  to  his  self-reliant  and  censorious  father  for 


84  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

aid.  Jesse  Grant  was  now  a  successful  man.  Six 
years  later  when  he  retired  from  active  business  he 
was  worth  over  $100,000,  a  large  sum  in  those  days, 
and  this  was  the  result  of  his  ability  to  recognize  an 
opportunity,  and  his  shrewdness  in  bargaining. 
His  own  success  in  business  made  him  the  more 
critical  of  a  son  who  with  far  better  training  and  a 
larger  outlook  could  not  imitate  his  example.  For 
a  time,  Jesse  Grant  refused  to  help  in  his  son's 
struggle,  but  in  the  spring  of  1860,  he  made  a  sug 
gestion  that  brought  about  a  change  both  in  em 
ployment  and  residence. 

Jesse  Grant  now  lived  at  Covington,  Ky.,  where 
his  tannery  was  located,  but  a  branch  of  his  ex 
tensive  business  had  been  established  in  Galena,  111., 
and  was  conducted  by  the  younger  sons,  Simpson 
and  Orvil.  These  boys  had  succeeded  well,  but 
Simpson  was  failing  in  health,  and  suffering  from 
the  disease  which  in  the  next  year  brought  him  to 
an  untimely  grave.  This  left  an  opening  for 
Ulysses,  and  he  was  offered  a  place  in  the  store  at 
an  annual  salary  of  $600,  with  however  an  oppor 
tunity  for  a  share  in  the  business.  He  gladly  ac 
cepted,  and  in  April,  1860,  he  and  his  family  em 
barked  their  household  effects  on  a  river-boat,  and 
bade  farewell  to  St.  Louis. 

Galena  was  at  this  time  a  healthy  Western  city 
of  6,000  or  7,000  inhabitants,  situated  on  the  river 
of  that  name  about  four  miles  above  its  junction 
with  the  Mississippi,  and  located  in  the  heart  of  the 
lead  district  of  Illinois.  Jesse  Grant  conducted  here 


YEAES  OF  UNFULFILLED  PEOMISE    85 

a  wholesale  leather  business,  originally  founded  in 
1840  by  E.  A.  Collins,  with  whom  he  had  formed  a 
partnership  ;  but  in  1853  there  was  a  dissolution, 
and  Jesse  purchased  the  business.  Henceforth  the 
title  was  wholly  in  him,  and  the  management  was 
intrusted  to  his  sous.  Writing  from  Covington  in 
1868,  the  elder  Grant  says,— "  After  Ulysses's  farm 
ing  and  real  estate  experiments  failed  to  be  self- 
supporting,  he  came  to  me  at  this  place  for  advice 
and  assistance.  I  referred  him  to  Simpson,  my 
next  oldest  son,  who  had  charge  of  my  Galena 
business,  and  who  was  staying  with  me  at  that  time 
on  account  of  poor  health.  Simpson  sent  him  to 
the  Galena  store  to  stay  until  something  better 
should  turn  up  in  his  favor,  and  told  him  he  would 
be  allowed  a  salary  of  eight  hundred  (originally  six 
hundred)  dollars  per  annum.  .  .  .  That  amount 
would  have  supported  his  family  then,  but  he  owed 
debts  at  St.  Louis,  and  did  draw  fifteen  hundred 
dollars  in  the  year,  but  he  soon  paid  back  the  bal 
ance  after  he  went  into  the  army. " 

The  leather  business  had  a  capital  of  about 
$100,000,  and  its  annual  receipts  were  about  the 
same  amount.  The  house  purchased  domestic 
leather,  and  sold  shoe -findings,  saddlery,  French 
calf,  fancy  linings  and  morocco.  His  brothers 
assigned  to  Ulysses  clerical  work,  in  which  his 
aptitude  for  mathematics  made  him  proficient, 
and  some  buying  and  selling,  reserving  for  them 
selves  the  more  important  bargaining.  His  per 
sonal  relations  with  Simpson  were  very  cordial, — 


86  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

"  A  more  honorable  man  never  transacted  busi 
ness,  "  was  the  tribute  to  him  in  the  "  Memoirs." 

During  the  next  year  Grant  lived  quietly  and 
happily  at  Galena.  His  home  was  on  a  bluff  two 
hundred  feet  above  the  river,  and  every  day  he 
climbed  the  wooden  steps  which  led  to  this  eleva 
tion.  With  his  wife,  he  attended  the  Methodist 
Church,  and  although  not  himself  a  member,  he 
was  as  regular  as  many  communicants.  He  en 
joyed  the  life  of  the  town,  and  as  in  St.  Louis,  he 
was  afterward  recollected  chiefly  for  his  stories  of 
the  Mexican  War,  his  accounts  of  the  West  and 
sometimes  his  trenchant  comments  on  a  military 
problem.  His  army  overcoat  of  blue,  purchased 
on  the  Pacific  coast  in  more  prosperous  days,  be 
came  well  known  as  the  distinguishing  mark  of  the 
ex-soldier.  Once  he  traveled  for  ten  days  in  Wis 
consin  and  Iowa,  purchasing  hides  for  the  busi 
ness.  And  gradually  the  conviction  developed  in 
his  mind  that  here  was  his  life-work,  not  indeed  in 
the  tanning,  from  which  his  boyish  heart  had 
turned,  but  in  the  kindred  business,  in  association 
with  his  own  family.  Writing  to  a  friend,  in 
December,  1860,  he  said, — "In  my  new  employ 
ment  I  have  become  pretty  conversant,  and  am 
much  pleased  with  it.  I  hope  to  be  a  partner 
pretty  soon." 

Meanwhile,  chance  and  circumstance  were  again 
to  take  their  hand  in  Grant's  career.  The  problem 
of  slavery  had  brought  the  question  of  secession 
into  every  one's  mind  and  the  future  of  the  Union 


YEAES  OF  UNFULFILLED  PEOMISE    87 

was  the  great  topic.  While  in  St.  Louis,  Grant's 
affiliations  were  naturally  with  the  slave  owners, 
especially  as  represented  by  his  wife's  family.  In 
Galena,  although  the  town  was  Democratic,  he 
found  a  strong  anti-slavery  sentiment.  In  journey 
ing  around  the  northwest,  he  encountered  the 
vigorous  pioneer  loyalty  to  the  flag  and  devotion  to 
freedom  which  eventually  were  to  be  welded  into  a 
mighty  and  efficient  military  force.  All  of  these 
influences  reacted  upon  Grant's  mind,  gave  him  an 
insight  into  the  turmoil  of  the  nation,  and  so  helped 
to  prepare  him  for  the  next  stage  of  his  career. 

The  great  crisis  was  now  fast  approaching, — when 
the  power  and  indomitable  will  of  the  quiet  leather- 
salesman  would  make  him  the  nation's  hero  ! 


CHAPTER  V 

THE  NATIONAL  CRISIS 

DURING  the  seven  years  which  followed  Grant's 
retirement  from  the  army,  a  great  change  had  come 
over  the  spirit  of  our  nation,  and  now  the  crisis  of 
its  history  was  imminent. 

The  census  of  1860  made  manifest  many  signs  of 
material  progress.  There  was  a  total  population  of 
31,443,321,  of  which  5,407,220  whites,  127,760  free 
negroes,  and  3,521,120  slaves  owned  by  approxi 
mately  350,000  slaveholders,  were  in  the  eleven 
states  of  South  Carolina,  Georgia,  Florida,  Alabama, 
Mississippi,  Louisiana,  Texas,  Arkansas,  Korth 
Carolina,  Virginia  and  Tennessee,  which  afterward 
formed  the  Southern  Confederacy.  But  while  the 
increase  in  national  prosperity  during  the  previous 
decade  had  been  great,  it  would  be  futile  to  deny 
that  there  had  developed  a  line  of  cleavage  in 
political  and  social  ideas  which  separated  the  Union 
into  two  clearly  defined  political  entities. 

The  South  was  in  a  large  measure  agricultural, 
and  several  of  its  states  were  devoted  to  the  raising 
of  cotton  and  rice,  in  which  negro  labor  was  al 
most  exclusively  used.  Those  districts  of  the  South 
which  were  not  directly  interested  in  cotton  pro- 


THE  NATIONAL  CRISIS  89 

duced  slaves  who  were  sold  to  the  great  plantations, 
as  the  demand  for  slave  labor  increased.  "  Under 
the  influence  of  climate,  soil  and  a  system  of  forced 
African  labor,  the  Southern  states  irresistibly 
reverted  to  the  patriarchal  conditions,  becoiniug 
more  and  more  agricultural  ;  and,  as  is  always  the 
case  with  agricultural  races  and  patriarchal  com 
munities,  theycliog  ever  more  closely  to  their  tradi 
tions  and  local  institutions."  l  As  a  result,  there 
was  a  personal  loyalty  to  the  state  as  the  sovereign, 
and  a  devotion  to  the  local  units  of  government 
which  permeated  every  class  of  society.  Only  on 
this  principle  can  the  heroic  struggle  of  the  South 
in  the  defense  of  its  social  institutions  be  explained, 
when  it  is  recollected  that  less  than  one  out  of  every 
sixteen  whites  in  the  seceding  states  was  a  slave 
holder. 

But  in  the  North  there  had  been  a  great  change 
since  the  revolutionary  days  in  the  development  of 
a  national  consciousness.  The  railroad,  the  public 
school,  the  newspaper,  the  growth  of  manufactures 
which  demanded  more  than  a  local  market,  the  in 
fluence  of  immigrants  from  European  countries  in 
whom  the  race-tradition  accented  the  idea  of 
nationality,  an  expansion  of  commerce  which  re 
quired  the  protection  of  a  national  flag,  a  continuous 
western  migration  from  the  older  communities  to 
the  new, — all  of  these  forces,  and  many  others,  had 
finally  welded  together  a  sentiment  which  has  been 

1  Charlas  Francis  Adams  in  "Studies,  Military  and  Diplo 
matic,"  "  The  Ethics  of  Secession,"  p.  22. 


90  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

called  a  "  National  Will,"  and  this  desire  for  Union 
found  its  expression  in  a  fine  loyalty  to  the  federal 
government  as  its  chief  exponent.  These  two  con 
ceptions  of  political  life  developed  in  the  country, 
side  by  side,  in  the  thirty  years  preceding  the  Civil 
War,  and  the  striking  and  significant  fact  upon 
which,  a  half-century  later,  the  stress  is  being  laid, 
is  that  in  the  main  the  conception  of  the  South  was 
the  original  American  idea,  and  that  the  change 
came  in  the  North,  where  the  development  from  an 
agricultural  to  a  manufacturing  and  commercial 
status  had  brought  about  a  consequent  alteration  in 
the  political  ideas  of  the  people,  as  their  vision  en 
larged  from  the  provincial  and  local,  until  they  per 
ceived  not  only  the  glory  but  also  the  absolute 
necessity  of  the  national  idea. 

The  fundamental  difference  between  the  two 
branches  of  the  American  people  was,  in  theory,  a 
question  of  sovereignty, — was  the  supreme  unit  of 
government  to  be  found  in  the  state  or  the  nation  I 
But  the  dispute  waged  with  even  greater  intensity 
and  bitterness  over  a  practical  question, — the  posi 
tion  of  slavery  under  the  law.  In  the  South,  the 
slave  was  property,  to  be  protected  under  the  law, 
and  to  be  taken  freely  into  every  part  of  the  national 
domain,  without  let  or  hindrance.  But  in  the 
North,  a  strong  moral  conscience  had  developed 
which,  in  harmony  with  the  prevailing  tone  of 
European  civilization,  denounced  all  property  of 
man  in  man  as  morally  wrong.  The  extremists 
among  the  Abolitionists  saw  nothing  commendable 


THE  NATIONAL  CEISIS  91 

in  the  South  or  its  institutions  and  even  favored  the 
disruption  of  the  Union  as  a  protest  against  partner 
ship  in  crime.  There  had  been  a  tremendous  devel 
opment  of  public  sentiment  in  the  North  during  the 
Kansas- Nebraska  struggle  and  while  the  men  of 
moderate  views  were  far  removed  from  the  Aboli 
tionists,  yet  the  election  of  1860  showed  that  an 
overwhelming  majority  in  the  North  was  strongly 
opposed  to  any  extension  of  the  slave  domain, 
especially  in  the  territories  of  the  Union. 

Between  these  two  attitudes,  there  might  have 
been  found  some  middle  course.  Certainly,  the  na 
tional  idea  and  the  opposition  to  slavery  were  grow 
ing  so  much  more  rapidly  than  the  opposing  con 
victions,  that  if  civil  strife  could  have  been  averted 
for  one  generation,  it  is  easy  to  conceive  that  a 
proposition  for  gradual  emancipation  with  compen 
sation  to  slaveholders  might  have  been  worked  out. 
Moreover,  even  a  brief  breathing-space  would 
have  given  opportunity  for  impressing  upon  the 
Southern  mind  the  economic  wastefulness  of  slavery 
as  a  method  of  industrial  organization,  and  this  ar 
gument  should  have  been  just  as  convincing  first  as 
last — after  four  years  of  warfare.  Unfortunately 
for  the  peaceful  solution  of  the  problem,  both 
branches  of  the  American  people  were  dominated 
by  extremists,  and  they  would  be  content  only  with 
a  complete  and  immediate  triumph  for  their  views. 
There  were  few  who  could  ascend  to  the  breadth  of 
vision  and  toleration  which  characterized  Lincoln, 
when  he  said,  in  1854,— -"  They  (the  South)  are  just 


92  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

what  we  would  be  in  their  situation.  If  slavery 
did  not  exist  among  them,  they  would  not  introduce 
it.  If  it  did  now  exist  among  us,  we  should  not 
instantly  give  it  up.  I  surely  will  not  blame  them 
for  doing  what  I  should  not  know  how  to  do  my 
self."  This  was  a  wise  message  to  a  contending 
world,  in  which  one  group  menacingly  declared  that 
slavery  was  ordained  of  God,  while  the  other  replied 
with  equal  insistence  that  it  was  the  special  creation 
of  the  Devil. 

The  election  of  Lincoln,  while  a  distinct  triumph 
for  the  opponents  of  slavery,  presented  an  oppor 
tunity  for  moderate  counsels,  which  the  South  should 
have  recognized.  Unfortunately,  public  sentiment 
among  the  slaveholders  was  even  more  excitable 
than  in  the  North,  and  there  was  a  most  complete 
misconception  of  the  capacity  and  attitude  of  their 
opponents,  based  upon  ignorance  and  provincialism. 
"  The  Southern  mind  was  influenced  and  misguided 
by  a  class  of  public  men,  politicians,  not  statesmen, 
newspaper  editors,  and  preachers,  who  possessed  far 
more  ambition  and  zeal  than  wisdom  and  knowledge. 
By  their  power  over  the  passions  and  prejudices  of 
the  multitude,  they  precipitated  the  Southern  people 
into  reassumption  of  their  independence  as  states, 
more  as  an  escape  from  anticipated  wrongs  than  from 
actual  grievance." l 

As  a  result  of  this  leadership,  the  South  believed 
that  their  opponents  would  not  fight,  and   that  the 
basis  of  political  society  in  the  North  was  so  selfish 
1  "  Recollections  of  Alexander  H.  Stephens,"  p.  326. 


THE  NATIONAL  CRISIS  93 

and  materialistic  that  its  men  were  incapable  of 
heroic  self-sacrifice  for  an  ideal.  In  almost  every 
village,  it  was  proclaimed  that  "  one  Southerner 
could  whip  a  half-dozen  Yankees  and  not  half  try," 
and  that  "  Cotton  was  King,'7  so  that  the  civilized 
world  could  not  exist  without  the  products  of  the 
South,  and  would  join  forces  in  overwhelming  resist 
ance  to  any  power  which  would  attempt  to  inter 
fere  with  its  trade. 

It  was  this  vainglorious  attitude  which  forced  the 
fighting.  The  abstract  question  of  States'  Eights 
might  have  been  committed  eventually  to  the  field 
of  legal  disputation.  It  is  conceivable  that  the  pres 
sure  of  economic  necessity  might  have  eventually 
led  to  a  complete  change  in  the  status  of  the  slave  ; 
but  when  the  two  large  sections  of  the  nation,  both 
equally  brave  and  sensitively  proud,  regarded  each 
other  with  mutual  bitterness  and  contempt,  the  ap 
peal  to  arms  could  not  long  be  averted.  The  South 
was  taught  to  regard  the  election  of  Lincoln  as  an 
insult  to  Southern  pride  and  a  menace  to  Southern 
institutions,  and  their  leaders  were  not  willing  to 
wait  for  the  development  of  his  real  policy.  Will 
iam  T.  Sherman  had  lived  in  the  South  ;  from  his 
school  in  Louisiana  he  witnessed  the  preparations 
for  secession  and  war,  and  when  his  loyalty  to  the 
Union  required  that  he  should  resign  his  post,  he 
wrote  to  his  brother  :  "  I  do  regret  this  political  im 
broglio.  I  do  think  it  was  brought  about  by  poli 
ticians." 

But  if  neither  side  was  willing  to  listen  to  reason, 


94  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

neither  yielded  to  the  other  in  profound  self-confi 
dence.  In  April,  1861,  at  the  flag-raising  of  the 
Stars  and  Bars  in  Montgomery,  Ala.,  the  Confed 
erate  Secretary  of  War  pledged  himself  to  the  ex 
cited  crowd  to  raise  the  same  flag  over  Faueuil  Hall 
in  Boston.  When  Davis  dispatched  an  officer  to 
England  to  buy  arms  for  the  war,  he  was  instructed 
to  purchase  but  10,000  Eufield  rifles  !  In  the  North, 
after  the  firing  on  Suruter,  the  cry  of  "  On  to  Eich- 
mond"  was  equally  persistent,  and  led  to  the  early 
disaster  at  Bull  Eun.  There  were  few,  on  either 
side,  who  really  comprehended  all  aspects  of  the 
problem  which  so  nearly  wrecked  the  nation,  and 
there  were  fewer  still  who  understood  what  war 
meant. 

During  the  excitement  of  these  troublous  times 
Grant  lived  quietly  at  Galena.  His  residence  in 
Illinois  was  too  recent  to  qualify  him  to  vote  at  the 
election,  and  consequently  he  was  not  active  in  the 
presidential  campaign.  If  he  had  been  qualified, 
there  can  be  little  doubt  but  that  he  would  have 
voted  for  Douglas,  on  the  same  grounds  as  had  de 
termined  his  vote  for  Buchanan  four  years  before. 
As  between  Breckinridge  and  Lincoln,  he  favored 
the  latter,  but  the  middle  course  appealed  to  him  as 
postponing  the  crisis,  until  the  excited  passions  of 
both  sides  had  cooled. 

But  when  the  news  of  the  firing  on  Sumter  came 
to  Galena,  it  subordinated  politics  to  patriotism, 
and  Grant  at  once  avowed  his  sympathies  with  the 
flag  under  which  he  had  served  for  fifteen  years. 


THE  NATIONAL  CRISIS  95 

Unlike  many  of  his  companions  in  the  army,  there 
was  for  him  no  question  of  divided  patriotism  be 
cause  of  state  allegiance.  There  is  a  tradition, 
founded  on  the  gossip  of  a  slave,  that  his  father-in- 
law  endeavored  to  win  him  for  the  South,  promis 
ing  a  commission  as  brigadier-general.  But  what 
ever  truth  there  may  be  in  this  rumor,  it  is  certain 
that  there  was  not  the  slightest  hesitation  on 
Grant's  part  as  to  his  duty.  "  We  are  now  in  the 
midst  of  trying  times  when  every  one  must  be  for  or 
against  his  country,  and  show  his  colors,  too,  by  his 
every  act,"  he  wrote  to  his  father,  ten  days  after  the 
firing  on  Sumter.  "  Having  been  educated  for 
such  an  emergency,  at  the  expense  of  the  Govern 
ment,  I  feel  that  it  has  upon  me  superior  claims, 
such  claims  as  no  ordinary  motives  of  self-interest 
can  surmount.  .  .  .  Whatever  may  have  been 
my  political  opinions  before,  I  have  but  one  senti 
ment  now.  That  is,  we  have  a  Government,  and 
laws,  and  a  flag,  and  they  must  all  be  sustained." 
In  his  immediate  family,  this  was  the  unanimous 
sentiment,  although  some  of  his  Southern  cousins  at 
once  enlisted  in  the  Confederate  Army,  and  Jesse 
Grant's  sister,  Eachel,  who  had  lived  for  eight 
years  in  Virginia  and  was  a  slave  owner,  wrote  to 
one  of  her  nieces,  ' '  If  you  are  with  the  accursed 
Lincolnites,  the  ties  of  consanguinity  shall  be  for 
ever  severed." 

The  uprising  of  the  North  in  defense  of  the 
Union  is  one  of  the  most  inspiring  facts  of  the 
nation's  history.  At  Galena,  as  in  practically  every 


96  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

other  Northern  community,  a  town  meeting  was  as 
sembled  at  the  court-house  to  ratify  Lincoln's  call 
for  volunteers.  The  local  leaders  were  two  men, 
whose  intimate  association  with  Grant  was  of  the 
greatest  service  to  him,  and  has  made  their  names 
memorable, — Elihu  B.  Washburne  and  John  A. 
Kawlins.  Washburue  had  been  the  congressman 
for  the  district  since  1852.  In  the  organization  of 
the  Republican  party  he  had  played  a  conspicuous 
part,  and  he  was  most  zealous  that  the  people 
whom  he  represented  should  be  urgent  in  defense  of 
the  Union.  Rawlins  was  then  in  his  thirty-first 
year  ;  he  had  been  a  farmer  and  charcoal-burner  ; 
through  much  privation  he  had  worked  his  way 
into  the  legal  profession,  and  by  signal  ability  had 
succeeded.  In  the  previous  year  he  had  been  a 
candidate  for  presidential  elector  on  the  Douglas 
ticket,  and  now  with  his  chief  was  foremost  in 
pledging  loyalty  to  the  Union.  At  the  first  town 
meeting,  the  mayor,  who  had  presided,  had  in 
dicated  his  preference  for  a  temporizing  policy,  and 
consequently,  when  the  second  was  called,  a  few 
days  later,  to  sec  lire  enlistments,  some  one  nominated 
Captain  Grant  as  chairman.  This  was  Grant's  first 
public  appearance  as  an  actor  in  the  great  struggle 
which  was  to  give  him  his  opportunity.  Upon 
taking  the  chair,  he  spoke  a  few  words  about  the 
practical  duties  of  the  soldier's  life  and  pledged  his 
own  support. 

Within  a  few  days  enough  volunteers  had  been 
secured  for  a  company,  and  it  was  proposed  to  elect 


THE  NATIONAL  CEISIS  97 

Grant,  who  was  probably  the  only  West  Pointer  in  the 
town,  to  the  captaincy.  He  declined,  however,  pos 
sibly  with  the  belief  that  he  was  fitted  by  his  train 
ing  for  a  larger  command,  and  A.  L.  Chetlaiu,  after 
ward  brigadier-general,  was  elected.  In  the  or 
ganization  of  the  company,  Grant  showed  the  eager 
volunteers  what  was  necessary,  and  he  assumed 
charge  of  their  first  drilling.  With  Kawlins  and 
others  he  went  into  neighboring  towns  and  hamlets, 
urging  everywhere  a  prompt  response  to  the  Presi 
dent's  call.  When  the  company  was  completed,  one 
week  after  the  second  town  meeting,  they  held  a 
farewell  parade,  and  then  took  the  train  for  Spring 
field,  whither  Grant,  without  any  official  connec 
tion,  accompanied  them. 

It  is  almost  impossible  to  conceive  of  the  confus 
ion  and  administrative  chaos  of  the  early  months  of 
the  war.  Few  knew  what  ought  to  be  done,  and 
none  had  any  experience  in  the  doing.  Soldiers 
must  be  mustered  into  service,  drilled  in  their 
duties,  equipped  with  arms  and  assigned  to  their 
stations.  The  commissary  department  must  be 
organized,  expenditures  must  be  authorized,  and 
payments  made.  All  of  these  things  were  now  to  be 
attempted  by  a  government  which  was  on  a  peace 
basis  and  in  which  the  authority  was  divided  be 
tween  state  and  nation.  When  Grant  reached 
Springfield,  he  tendered  his  services  to  the  Governor, 
Hon.  Eichard  Yates,  who,  with  no  experience  in 
such  matters,  was  endeavoring  to  organize  a  mob  of 
eager  volunteers  into  an  army.  Although  Wash- 


98  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

burne  had  given  Grant  a  letter  of  introduction 
to  Yates,  it  was  several  days  before  any  work 
was  given  him.  Five  years  afterward,  Yates  once 
referred  to  their  first  interview, — "He  was  plain, 
very  plain,  but  something  beside  his  plain, 
straightforward  modesty  and  earnestness  induced 
me  to  assign  him  a  desk  in  the  executive 
office.7'  In  the  "Memoirs"  Grant  declared  that 
he  was  about  to  return  to  Galena  when  Yates  met 
him  by  chance  and  offered  him  a  post  in  the 
Adjutant-General's  office.  It  is  highly  probable, 
however,  that  this  offer  was  the  result  of  the  pres 
sure  which  Washburne  had  exerted  on  behalf  of  his 
protege. 

The  new  work  was  neither  dignified  nor  remuner 
ative.  The  printing-office  could  not  manufacture 
the  mustering  blanks  as  rapidly  as  they  were  needed, 
and  so  Grant  was  given  a  desk  in  the  Adjutant's 
office,  where  he  ruled  blanks  from  plain  paper  for 
two  dollars  a  day  !  After  several  days  at  this  task, 
disgusted  with  work  that  any  schoolboy  could  have 
done,  and  unable  to  afford  idleness,  he  was  on  the 
point  of  returning  to  Galena.  But  fortunately  the 
legislature  authorized  eleven  additional  regiments, 
and  Grant  was  appointed  mustering  officer.  "  I 
should  have  offered  myself  for  the  colonelcy  of  one 
of  the  regiments,77  he  wrote  to  his  father  on  May  2d, 
"  but  I  find  all  of  those  places  are  wanted  by  politi 
cians  who  are  up  to  log-rolling,  and  I  do  not  care  to 
be  under  such  persons.77  His  new  duties  took  him 
to  various  parts  of  the  state,  where  men  were  enlist- 


THE  NATIONAL  CEISIS  99 

iiig.  While  waiting  for  a  regiment  to  form  at  Belle 
ville,  in  the  southern  part  of  the  state,  Grant  crossed 
over  to  St.  Louis,  and  there  witnessed  the  energetic 
movements  of  Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  and  Captain 
Nathaniel  Lyon  in  disarming  the  secessionists  at 
Camp  Jackson.  At  this  time,  Captain  John  Pope 
was  stationed  at  Springfield  as  the  mustering-officer 
for  the  regular  army,  and  Grant,  upon  renewing  an 
acquaintance  which  had  begun  at  West  Point,  was 
advised  by  him  to  apply  for  service  in  the  regular 
army.  It  was  quite  evident  that  in  the  hurly-burly 
of  organization  others  were  winning  recognition 
more  quickly  than  Grant.  While  he  had  brief 
command  of  Camp  Yates,  and  had  had  a  temporary 
camp  named  after  himself,  and  was  becoming  known 
as  a  master  of  the  details  of  the  business  of  military 
administration,  yet  he  had  little  self-assertion,  and 
no  parade  or  presence,  and  as  a  consequence  he  was 
being  passed  by  men  of  greater  assurance  and  influ 
ence.  Moreover,  at  this  time  Grant  shared  the  be 
lief  of  most  others  that  the  war  would  not  last  longer 
than  a  brief  campaign,  and  he  was  probably  reluc 
tant  to  give  up  a  business  position  which  had  been 
secured  with  some  difficulty  for  another  experiment 
in  the  army.  But  his  experience  at  Springfield 
seems  to  have  revived  in  him  the  old  love  for  army 
life,  and  during  the  next  month  he  strove  earnestly 
to  return  to  the  service. 

After  the  new  regiments  had  been  mustered  in, 
Grant's  work  for  the  state  was  done,  so  he  returned 
to  Galena,  to  await  what  fortune  might  bring.  On 


100  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

May  24,  1861,  he  wrote  to  the  War  Department,1 
offering  his  services,  and  suggesting  that  he  was 
competent  to  command  a  regiment, — a  conclusion 
which  he  had  reached  after  observing  the  character 
of  the  training  of  the  men  who  had  received  appoint 
ments  of  this  grade.  His  letter  was  apparently 
mislaid  in  the  mass  of  similar  correspondence  at 
Washington,  and  it  was  not  discovered  until  long 
after  the  writer  had  secured  national  recognition. 
Grant  waited  for  an  answer,  and  as  none  was  re 
ceived,  he  became  impatient.  "I  have  felt  all  the 
time  as  if  a  duty  were  being  neglected  that  was 
paramount  to  any  other  duty  I  ever  owed. "  Eventu 
ally,  he  went  South  to  Covington,  Ky.,  to  see  his 

1  Galena,  HI., 

HayWth,  1861. 
COL.  L.  THOMAS, 

Adgt.  Gen.  U.  8.  A., 

Washington,  D.  C. 
SIR  : 

Having  served  for  fifteen  years  in  the  regular  array, 
including  four  years  at  West  Point,  and  feeling  it  the  duty  of 
every  one  who  has  been  educated  at  the  Government  expense 
to  offer  their  service  for  the  support  of  that  Government,  I  have 
the  honor,  very  respectfully,  to  tender  my  services  until  the 
close  of  the  War,  in  such  capacity  as  may  be  offered.  I  would 
say,  in  view  of  my  present  age  and  length  of  service,  I  feel  my 
self  competent  to  command  a  Regiment  if  the  President,  in  his 
judgment,  should  see  fit  to  intrust  one  to  me. 

Since  the  first  call  of  the  President,  I  have  been  serving  on 
the  Staff  of  the  Governor  of  this  State,  rendering  such  aid  as  I 
could  in  the  organization  of  our  State  Militia,  and  am  still  en 
gaged  in  that  capacity.  A  letter  addressed  to  me  at  Springfield, 
111.,  will  reach  me. 

I  am,  very  respectfully, 

Your  Obt.  Svt. 

U.  S.  GRANT. 


THE  NATIONAL  CElSiS  101 

parents,  and  after  a  few  days  crossed  over  to  Cincin 
nati,  in  the  hope  of  securing  a  position  on  the  staff  of 
General  George  B.  McClellan,  who  was  then  organiz 
ing  the  Western  army,  and  was  generally  regarded  as 
the  coming  man.  He  found  McClellan' s  headquarters 
full  of  bustle  and  life,  and  hoped  for  a  time  that 
he  might  here  receive  appointment  as  a  major  or 
lieutenant-colonel,  but  although  he  made  two  visits, 
McClellan  was  too  busy  to  receive  one,  whom  if  he 
recalled  at  all,  he  probably  remembered  without 
favor.1  This  failure  made  Grant  despondent,  as  it 
seemed  to  indicate  that  a  return  to  active  service 
would  not  be  easy.  At  this  time,  discouraged  to  an 
unusual  degree,  he  even  suggested  to  a  friend  that 
he  might  bake  bread  for  the  soldiers,  as  he  had  done 
while  quartermaster  in  Mexico. 

Meanwhile,  his  opportunity  had  come.  Among 
the  regiments  which  had  been  accepted  by  Yates 
was  one  organized  by  the  young  men  from  Cham 
paign  and  the  adjacent  communities,  which  had 
been  mustered  into  service  by  Grant  at  Mattoon. 
Its  first  colonel  had  proven  unfit  for  the  post,  and 
the  regiment  had  become  disorderly  and  insub 
ordinate.  The  officers  were  called  into  conference 
with  the  Governor,  and  suggested  a  change  in  com 
mander.  Recalling  the  trained  soldier,  who  had 
presided  over  the  organization  of  the  regiment, 
Grant's  name  was  mentioned,  and  the  Governor 
decided  to  act  on  the  suggestion.  So,  while  Grant 

1  In  "  McClellan's  Own  Story,"  p.  47,  he  states  that  he  was 
absent  from  Cincinnati  at  this  time. 


102  UL7S3ES  S.  GKANT 

was  fretting  in  Cincinnati,  he  received  a  telegraphic 
appointment  as  colonel  of  the  Seventh  District 
Regiment,  or  the  Twenty -first  Illinois,  as  it  was 
called  later.  He  accepted  with  alacrity,  and  has 
tened  to  Springfield  to  this  welcome  duty. 

When  the  new  colonel  went  out  to  Camp  Yates 
to  assume  command,  he  was  accompanied  by  two 
congressmen,  John  A.  McClernand  and  John  A. 
Logan,  both  Douglas  Democrats  and  loyal  to  the 
Union.  In  the  usual  custom  of  the  time,  the  regi 
ment  was  assembled,  and  the  congressmen  delivered 
highly  patriotic  speeches.  Then  the  new  colonel 
was  called  for,  and  as  he  arose  on  the  platform,— 
"  dressed  in  citizen's  clothes,  an  old  coat  worn  out  at 
the  elbows  and  a  badly  damaged  hat,"  there  was 
some  derision  at  his  appearance.  Grant's  speech 
was  but  a  sentence, — "  Men,  go  to  your  quarters  ! " 
And  while  some  contrasted  his  style  and  manner 
with  the  grandiloquent  appearance  of  his  prede 
cessor,  yet  there  were  many  who  could  not  but  feel 
that  now  the  holiday  was  over,  and  the  regiment 
was  in  the  hands  of  one  who  knew  his  trade. 

During  the  first  few  days  Grant  had  no  horse 
and  no  uniform,  and  so  left  to  Lieutenant-Colonel 
Alexander  the  duty  of  presiding  at  dress-parade. 
At  the  first  drills  he  was  obliged  to  point  out  the 
line  with  a  stick  instead  of  a  sword  !  But  his 
father's  partner,  A.  A.  Collins,  loaned  him  several 
hundred  dollars,  with  which  he  purchased  the 
necessary  equipment,  and  thenceforth,  until  the 
closing  days  of  his  life,  he  was  rid  of  the  pressure 


THE  NATIONAL  CEISIS  103 

of  financial  necessity.  His  increasing  income  dur 
ing  the  army  service  enabled  him  to  discharge  his 
debts  with  scrupulous  honor,  and  to  provide  com 
fortably  for  his  family. 

His  first  great  problem  was  to  reduce  his  regi 
ment  to  a  proper  state  of  discipline,  and  this  was 
undertaken  with  a  degree  of  thoroughness  that 
showed  his  training.  When  a  company  assembled 
late  for  roll-call,  it  spent  the  day  without  rations. 
When  men  straggled  out  of  the  camp  after  liquor, 
they  were  tied  to  trees  for  a  period  of  reflection. 
When  one  cursed  his  commander,  he  was  gagged. 
It  needed  but  a  few  such  salutary  lessons.  The 
average  volunteer  of  the  Civil  War  was  a  higher 
type  of  manhood  than  has  ever  served  in  any 
similar  struggle,  and  the  response  of  these  farmers' 
sons  to  a  discipline  which  was  effective,  even  if 
rigid,  was  instant. 

Early  in  July  the  regiment  was  ordered  to 
Quincy,  111.,  and  to  the  amazement  of  all,  Grant 
refused  railroad  transportation,  preferring  to  march 
through  the  state,  soldier-fashion.  This  experience 
completed  his  conquest  of  his  men,  as  he  taught 
them  how  to  camp  and  to  mess,  and  so  prepared 
them  in  the  details  of  a  soldier's  every -day  life,  so 
that  the  chaplain,  Eev.  James  L.  Crane,  could  say, 
— "In  less  than  ten  days  after  Grant  took  com 
mand,  all  this  complicated  confusion  was  brought 
to  order  and  subordination  by  his  quiet  unostenta 
tious  vigor  and  vigilance.  Every  man  felt  that  he 
had  a  colonel  that  must  be  obeyed  and  respected ; 


104  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

aud  hence  they  all  soon  became  strongly  attached 
to  him,  with  the  exception  of  a  few  who  disliked 
any  restraints  upon  their  waywardness."  So  ef 
fective  was  this  training  that  at  the  Illinois  Kiver, 
when  the  regiment  was  sleeping  near  midnight, 
Grant  had  them  aroused,  tents  struck,  baggage 
collected  and  all  at  the  water's  edge  within  forty 
minutes, — a  movement  which  brought  from  their 
commander  the  comment  that  they  had  displayed 
the  celerity  and  promptness  of  veterans. 

The  first  real  service  of  the  regiment  was  in 
Missouri,  which  from  its  situation  and  population 
was  one  of  the  most  important  of  the  border  states. 
Here,  the  Governor,  Claiborne  F.  Jackson,  was  in 
sympathy  with  secession,  but  the  friends  of  the 
Union,  organized  by  Francis  P.  Blair,  Jr.,  whose 
brother  was  in  Lincoln's  Cabinet,  and  a  small 
group  of  regulars,  commanded  by  Captain  Lyon, 
had  checked  his  plans.  In  the  summer  of  1861, 
while  the  Union  Army  was  organizing,  the  state 
was  overrun  with  bands  of  Southern  sympathizers, 
who  maintained  a  species  of  guerilla  warfare  on 
their  opponents,  degenerating  eventually  into  neigh 
borhood  feuds  and  bushwhacking.  On  July  1, 
1861,  Lincoln  appointed  John  C.  Fremont  a  major- 
general  in  the  regular  army,  and  two  days  later  he 
was  placed  in  charge  of  the  Western  Department, 
with  headquarters  at  St.  Louis.  Fremont  reached 
his  command  on  July  25th,  having  spent  three 
weeks  in  the  East  in  a  vain  effort  to  secure  arms 
and  equipment.  During  this  period  the  Twenty- 


THE  NATIONAL  CEISIS  105 

first  Illinois  was  ordered  by  steamer  to  Ironton, 
which  was  the  Union  headquarters  in  southeastern 
Missouri.  But  the  boat  grounded  on  a  sand-bar, 
and  hearing  that  some  Illinois  forces  had  been 
surrounded  by  Confederates  in  northwestern  Mis 
souri,  Grant  took  his  regiment  by  train  from  the 
Illinois  Eiver  to  Quincy,  then  crossed  the  Missis 
sippi,  and  hastened  to  Palmyra,  where  he  was  first 
stationed  as  a  guard  to  workmen  who  were  rebuild 
ing  a  bridge  over  Salt  Eiver.  General  Pope,  recently 
musteriug-officer  at  Springfield,  was  in  command  in 
northern  Missouri,  and  was  endeavoring  to  suppress 
the  guerilla  warfare.  To  this  end,  Grant  was  or 
dered  to  attack  Colonel  William  Harris,  who  had  a 
force  of  about  1,200  men  at  Florida.  With  great 
trepidation,  Grant  marched  his  regiment  twenty- 
five  miles  through  a  deserted  country,  to  find  that 
Harris  had  retreated  several  days  before.  a  It  oc 
curred  to  me  at  once  that  Harris  had  been  as  much 
afraid  of  me  as  I  had  been  of  him.  This  was  a  view 
of  the  question  I  had  never  taken  before  ;  but  it 
was  one  I  never  forgot  afterward.  From  that 
event,  to  the  close  of  the  war,  I  never  experienced 
trepidation  upon  confronting  an  enemy,  though  I 
always  felt  more  or  less  anxiety.  I  never  forgot 
that  he  had  so  much  reason  to  fear  my  forces  as  I 
had  his.  The  lesson  was  valuable. " 

After  this  adventure,  Grant  was  stationed  at 
Mexico  for  a  few  weeks,  and  while  there  learned 
from  a  newspaper  that  Lincoln  had  commissioned 
him  as  a  Brigadier-General  of  Volunteers.  In  rec- 


106  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

ognition  of  the  loyalty  of  the  state,  the  Illinois 
congressmen  had  been  asked  to  suggest  several  can 
didates  to  the  President  for  brigadiers'  commissions, 
and  on  Washburue's  nomination,  Grant's  name  was 
first  on  the  list. 

In  August,  Grant  was  ordered  to  Ironton,  seventy 
miles  south  of  St.  Louis,  and  the  terminus  of  a  rail 
road,  to  defend  the  post  from  a  threatened  attack  by 
Hardee,  who  had  an  unorganized  army  of  Con 
federates  numbering  about  5,000  in  the  vicinity. 
Here  he  relieved  B.  Gratz  Brown,  afterward  candi 
date  for  the  vice-presidency  on  the  Greeley  ticket. 
With  a  force  of  about  3,000,  Grant  organized  the 
defense  so  as  to  make  Ironton  secure,  and  then 
planned  an  offensive  operation  against  Hardee,  who 
was  twenty-five  miles  to  the  south.  Some  of  his 
columns  had  already  started  on  this  expedition 
when  General  B.  M.  Preutiss  arrived  with  orders  to 
supersede  Grant.  Prentiss  had  been  appointed  a 
brigadier  at  the  same  time  as  Grant,  but  the  latter 
was  his  senior  in  the  regular  army,  and  hence  should 
have  retained  the  command.  Fremont  had  not 
been  informed  as  to  this  seniority,  and  so  Grant 
with  a  protest  yielded  to  Preutiss,  and  returned  to 
St.  Louis.  Here  he  spent  a  day  trying  to  penetrate 
the  pomp  with  which  Fremont  had  surrounded  him 
self,  and  eventually,  upon  explaining  the  situation, 
he  received  the  command  at  Jefferson  City,  in  the 
centre  of  the  state,  which  was  then  being  threatened 
by  General  Sterling  Price. 

Jefferson  City  was  the  capital  of  Missouri,  and 


THE  NATIONAL  CKISIS  107 

hence  was  a  post  of  considerable  importance.  Grant 
found  it  filled  with  soldiers,  whose  patriotism  but 
intensified  the  lack  of  organization.  Eecruits  were 
being  accepted  for  different  periods  of  service,  and 
yet  were  placed  in  the  same  regiments.  The  city  was 
filled  with  refugees,  driven  in  by  Confederate  par 
tisans.  First  organizing  his  men,  Grant  then  sent 
detachments  to  various  posts  twenty  miles  away, 
where  there  was  greater  opportunity  for  subsistence. 
He  was  about  to  organize  an  offensive  movement, 
when  he  was  again  relieved  by  Colonel  Jefferson  C. 
Davis,  and  ordered  to  St.  Louis,  to  receive  special 
instructions.  These  placed  him  in  command  of  the 
district  of  southeast  Missouri,  embracing  also 
southern  Illinois  and  western  Kentucky,  and  he  at 
once  proceeded  to  Cape  Girardeau,  on  the  Mississippi, 
between  Cairo  and  St.  Louis,  to  take  personal 
charge  of  an  expedition  designed  to  crush  Colonel 
Jeff.  Thompson,  a  Confederate  partisan  who  had  a 
considerable  force  in  the  neighborhood. 

The  plan  of  attack  involved  several  separate 
columns  which  were  to  concentrate  upon  Thompson 
from  Ironton,  Cairo  and  Cape  Girardeau.  Prentiss 
was  still  in  command  at  Ironton,  and  when  he  found 
that  he  was  to  serve  under  Grant,  whom  he  regarded 
as  his  junior,  he  abandoned  his  command  and 
hastened  to  St.  Louis  to  complain.  This  broke  up  the 
attack,  and  Thompson  escaped.  Grant  was  obliged 
to  prefer  charges  against  Prentiss,  who  on  this  oc 
casion  made  a  serious  mistake,  which  for  a  time 
cost  him  an  active  command.  On  September  4, 


108  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

1861,  Grant  arrived  at  Cairo,  and  assumed  entire 
charge  of  his  district. 

During  this  first  summer  of  the  war,  Grant  had 
advanced  rapidly  in  the  esteem  of  his  superiors  and 
in  his  capacity  for  service.  His  frequent  transfers 
were  due,  not  to  any  demerit  of  his  own,  but  to  a 
growing  conviction  that  here  was  the  man  for  an 
emergency.  From  Cape  Girardeau  he  wrote  to  his 
father,  "  I  was  sent  to  Irontou  when  the  place  was 
weak  and  threatened  with  a  superior  force,  and  as 
soon  as  it  was  rendered  secure,  I  was  ordered  to 
Jefferson  City,  another  point  threatened.  I  was  left 
there  but  a  week  when  orders  were  sent  ordering  me  to 
this  point,  putting  me  in  command  of  all  the  forces 
in  southeastern  Missouri,  south  Illinois,  and  every 
thing  that  can  operate  here.  All  I  fear  is  that  too 
much  may  be  expected  of  me."  Moreover,  his 
training  as  quartermaster  had  been  of  great  help  in 
organizing  and  equipping  the  scattered  forces  under 
his  command,  and  he  had  already  commenced  to 
display  his  strong  characteristic  of  doing  something 
with  what  was  provided,  instead  of  vociferously  de 
manding  more,  even  to  the  point  of  the  impossible. 

With  this  preliminary  experience  he  was  now 
transferred  to  one  of  the  most  important  fields  in  the 
West. 


CHAPTEE  VI 

THE  FIRST  BATTLES — FORT  DONELSON 

IT  is  impossible  properly  to  appreciate  the  diffi 
culties  of  the  North  in  prosecuting  the  war  for  the 
Union  without  a  due  recognition  of  the  enormous 
extent  of  the  theatre  of  operations.  The  eleven 
states  which  had  formally  seceded  covered  an  area 
of  777,665  square  miles,  and  within  this  imperial 
domain  the  authority  of  the  Federal  Government, 
except  in  small  communities  such  as  West  Virginia 
and  East  Tennessee,  had  practically  ceased  to  exist. 
Moreover,  there  was  an  active  sympathy  with  seces 
sion  in  three  border  states,  Maryland,  Kentucky 
and  Missouri,  embracing  an  area  of  122,025  square 
miles,  which  could  only  be  repressed  by  armed 
forces.  When  it  is  realized  that  the  area  of  the 
Confederacy  exceeded  the  combined  areas  of  France, 
Italy  and  the  German  and  Austro- Hungarian 
empires,  and  that  the  area  of  the  three  border  states 
was  but  a  trifle  less  than  that  of  Great  Britain  and 
Ireland,  and  that  throughout  this  vast  territory 
there  must  be  an  actual  conquest  of  an  intelligent, 
devoted  and  self-sacrificing  people,  the  extent  of  the 
problem  may  be  realized. 

While  in  the  East  the  main  task  was  the  capture 


110  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

of  Richmond  and  the  destruction  of  the  Army  of 
Virginia,  in  the  West  the  early  plans  of  campaign 
centered  naturally  around  the  Mississippi  Valley. 
With  less  than  thirty  thousand  miles  of  railroad  in 
the  entire  country,  of  which  by  far  the  greater  por 
tion  was  in  the  North,  the  importance  of  navigable 
rivers  to  trade  and  commerce  cannot  be  over 
estimated.  With  its  branches,  the  Mississippi 
River  drained  an  area  of  about  one  million  and  a 
quarter  square  miles.  Its  leading  tributaries  are 
the  Ohio  and  the  Missouri,  the  first  of  which 
branches  to  the  east,  eleven  hundred  miles  above 
the  mouth  of  the  great  river,  and  the  Missouri, 
really  the  parent  stream  under  another  name, 
empties  into  the  Mississippi  at  St.  Louis,  one  hun 
dred  and  fifty  miles  above  the  mouth  of  the  Ohio. 

The  control  of  the  great  valley  of  the  Mississippi 
was  indispensable  to  a  successful  prosecution  of  the 
war.  Especially  was  it  desired  in  the  Northwest, 
whose  natural  outlet  for  trade  was  blocked  by  the 
Confederate  strongholds  in  the  South.  So  popular 
was  this  phase  of  the  struggle  that  regiments  from 
the  Northwest  had  inscribed  on  their  banners,  "  The 
rebels  have  closed  the  Mississippi.  We  must  cut 
our  way  to  the  Gulf  with  our  swords."  Opposed  to 
this  ardent  and  traditional  feeling  in  the  Northwest 
was  the  clear  view  of  the  Southern  leaders,  who 
recognized  that  the  loss  of  the  valley  would  cut  the 
Confederacy  in  twain,  more  than  two-fifths  of  its 
area  being  west  of  the  river.  Moreover,  the  states 
of  Texas,  Louisiana  and  Arkansas  supplied  the  Con- 


THE  FIEST  BATTLES— FORT  DONELSON    111 

federacy  with  most  of  its  sugar,  beef  and  grain,  and 
at  least  100,000  recruits.  As  soon  as  the  war  had 
commenced,  therefore,  fortifications  were  main 
tained  at  New  Orleans,  Port  Hudson,  Yicksburg, 
Memphis,  Fort  Pillow,  New  Madrid  and  Island 
No.  10. 

In  the  autumn  of  1861  the  state  of  Kentucky  in 
tervened  between  the  armed  forces  of  the  North  and 
South.  While  the  Governor,  Magoffin,  had  become 
an  ardent  secessionist,  yet  the  legislature,  and  a 
large  majority  of  the  people,  inspired  by  their 
memories  of  the  teachings  of  Clay,  were  strongly 
for  the  Union.  At  first  the  legislature  proclaimed 
neutrality,  but  with  armies  on  the  immediate  north 
and  south,  this  status  was  obviously  impossible. 
On  September  4,  1861,  General  Leonidas  Polk,  who 
commanded  the  Confederate  army  in  western  Ten 
nessee,  invaded  Kentucky  and  seized  Columbus, 
where  a  commanding  bluff  gave  the  control  of  the 
Mississippi  River.  Polk  was  a  nephew  of  the  Pres 
ident  under  whom  the  war  with  Mexico  had  been 
waged.  He  had  been  graduated  from  West  Point, 
and  had  served  in  the  army  for  a  brief  time.  He 
then  took  orders  in  the  Episcopal  ministry,  and  at 
the  outbreak  of  the  Civil  War  was  Bishop  of  Louis 
iana.  When  the  Legislature  of  Kentucky  learned 
of  the  invasion  of  "  the  fighting  Bishop,"  there  was 
a  strong  protest  against  so  patent  a  violation  of 
States'  Eights,  with  the  result  that  the  Union  senti 
ment  in  the  state  was  soon  so  pronounced  as  to  settle 
finally  its  attitude. 


112  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

Upon  the  same  day  that  Polk  raised  the  Con 
federate  flag  at  Columbus,  Grant  arrived  at  Cairo, 
and  assumed  command  of  his  new  district.  The 
problem  before  him  was  formidable,  and  the  means 
were  scanty.  Cairo  was  a  small  town  of  less  than 
3,000  inhabitants,  located  on  the  Illinois  shore  at 
the  mouth  of  the  Ohio  Eiver.  Its  principal  business 
was  shipping  and  transportation,  and  it  was  the 
natural  centre  for  the  trade  down  the  Mississippi. 
On  account  of  its  strategic  position,  it  had  early 
been  fortified,  and  had  contained  a  garrison  under 
Colonel  Eichard  Oglesby.  When  Grant  reported 
he  was  in  citizen's  dress,  for  his  brigadier's  uniform 
had  not  yet  arrived  from  New  York,  and  the  first 
introduction  of  the  Colonel  to  his  new  chief  came 
when  the  latter  entered  the  headquarters,  and  taking 
pen  and  paper,  drafted  an  order  assuming  command. 
Scattered  throughout  the  district  there  were  about 
20,000  soldiers,  and  Grant's  first  care  was  to  see  that 
they  were  properly  organized  for  operation.  Cairo 
was  filled  with  volunteer  officers,  impressive  in  their 
parade  and  ornate  in  uniform,  and  there  was  some 
difficulty  in  reducing  them  to  proper  discipline. 

Little  time  was  given  for  plans  or  deliberation. 
The  next  day  a  Union  scout  brought  word  that  an 
expedition  had  left  Columbus  to  seize  Paducah,  a 
town  of  5,000  inhabitants,  located  where  the  Ten 
nessee  Eiver  empties  into  the  Ohio,  and  hence  where 
a  blockade  of  the  trade  of  both  rivers  could  be 
maintained.  Eealiziug  the  importance  of  the  post, 
Grant  determined  to  anticipate  Polk,  and  sent  a  hasty 


THE  FIEST  BATTLES— FOET  DONELSON    113 

telegram  to  Fremont  that  lie  would  start  that  night 
for  Paducah,  unless  ordered  to  the  contrary.  The 
Tennessee  and  Cumberland  Kivers  are  the  main 
branches  of  the  Ohio  in  western  Kentucky  and  Ten 
nessee.  During  the  last  eighty  miles  of  their  course 
they  are  almost  parallel,  and  they  empty  into  the 
Ohio  Eiver  at  Paducah  and  Smithland,  within 
twenty  miles  of  each  other.  The  control  of  the 
mouths  of  these  two  rivers  would  go  far  toward  the 
mastery  of  the  basins,  and  Grant  won  the  race. 
Embarking  two  regiments  and  a  battery  on  the 
evening  of  September  5th,  he  steamed  hastily  up 
stream  forty-five  miles  and  lauded  at  Paducah,  while 
the  Confederates  were  still  ten  miles  away.  The 
houses  of  Southern  sympathizers  were  decorated 
with  banting  and  the  flags  of  their  choice,  but  the 
nature  of  the  reception  was  altered.  Grant's  Proc 
lamation  l  to  the  citizens  of  Paducah  was  a  model 

1  PROCLAMATION 
TO  THE  CITIZENS  OF  PADUCAH  ! 

I  have  come  among  you,  not  as  an  enemy,  but  as  your  friend 
and  fellow-citizen,  not  to  injure  or  annoy  you,  but  to  respect  the 
rights,  and  to  defend  and  enforce  the  rights  of  all  loyal  citizens. 
An  enemy,  in  rebellion  against  our  common  government,  has 
taken  possession  of,  and  planted  its  guns  upon  the  soil  of  Ken 
tucky  and  fired  upon  our  flag.  Hickman  and  Columbus  are  in 
his  hands.  He  is  moving  upon  your  city.  I  am  here  to  defend 
you  against  this  enemy  and  to  assert  and  maintain  the  authority 
and  sovereignty  of  your  government  and  mine.  I  have  nothing 
to  do  with  opinions.  I  shall  deal  only  with  armed  rebellion 
and  its  aiders  and  abettors.  You  can  pursue  your  usual  avoca 
tions  without  fear  or  hindrance.  The  strong  arm  of  the  Gov 
ernment  is  here  to  protect  its  friends,  and  to  punish  only  its 
enemies.  Whenever  it  is  manifest  that  you  are  able  to  defend 


114  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

statement  of  its  kind,  which  by  its  dignity  of  ex 
pression  won  the  admiration  of  President  Lincoln. 

After  reinforcing  Paducah  so  that  it  was  no 
longer  in  danger,  and  sending  a  detachment  to 
Southland,  Grant  returned  to  Cairo,  leaving  Colonel 
Chas.  P.  Smith,  former  Commandant  at  West  Point, 
in  charge  of  this  important  post.  The  next  two 
months  were  spent  in  organization  and  drill,  in  for 
tifying  important  locations,  and  in  reconnaissances 
against  the  enemy.  It  was  not  an  easy  time.  "  It 
is  a  rare  thing  that  I  get  to  bed  before  two  or  three 
o'clock  in  the  morning, "  he  wrote  from  Cairo  to  his 
sister,  "and  am  usually  wakened  in  the  morning 
before  getting  awake  in  a  normal  way. "  Gradually, 
however,  system  developed  out  of  chaos ;  a  staff 
was  organized,  of  which  the  Galena  lawyer,  Kaw- 
lins,  was  the  most  useful  member,  and  the  army  was 
put  in  readiness  for  offensive  operations. 

In  October,  Fremont  led  forth  from  St.  Louis  a 
well-equipped  army  of  38,000  to  attack  General 
Price,  who  had  remained  in  the  state  since  his  vic 
tory  at  Wilson's  Creek.  Price  retreated  before  this 
overwhelming  force,  however,  and  eventually,  on 
November  2d,  before  a  battle  had  been  fought,  Fr6- 
mout  was  superseded  by  Hunter.  As  a  part  of  this 
campaign,  Grant  fought  his  first  battle  at  a  hamlet 

yourselves,  to  maintain  the  authority  of  your  government  and 
protect  the  rights  of  all  its  loyal  citizens,  1  shall  withdraw  the 
forces  under  my  command  from  your  city. 

U.  S.  GRANT, 

Brig.  Gen.  U.  S.  A.,  Commanding. 
Paducah,  Sept.  6th,  1861. 


THE  FIEST  BATTLES— FORT  DONELSON    115 

called  Belmont,  on  the  western  shore  of  the  Missis 
sippi  opposite  Columbus,  where  Polk  had  con 
structed  a  camp. 

Learning  that  there  was  a  detachment  of  Confeder 
ates  in  Missouri  about  fifty  miles  southwest  from 
Cairo,  Grant  sent  a  force  under  Colonel  Oglesby 
against  them.  Later,  on  November  5th,  he  was 
advised  that  Polk  was  moving  a  strong  force  west 
from  Columbus  to  attack  Oglesby.  In  order  to  pre 
vent  this  movement,  Grant  sent  reinforcements  to 
Oglesby,  and  also  ordered  Smith  to  advance  from 
Paducah  to  threaten  Columbus,  and  himself  led  an 
expedition  of  3,100  men  from  Cairo  by  boat  as  a 
part  of  the  same  plan.  Originally,  this  expedition 
was  only  designed  to  alarm  Polk  to  the  extent  of  re 
calling  his  forces  from  the  interior  of  Missouri,  but 
when  Grant  saw  the  spirit  of  his  men,  he  determined 
to  attack  the  camp  at  Belmont. 

Landing  on  the  west  bank,  about  three  miles 
above  Belmont,  Grant  left  the  gunboats  to  watch 
the  transports,  and  marched  his  men  over  a  corn 
field  and  through  marshy  ground  and  thickets,  until 
he  met  the  enemy.  There  was  four  hours'  fighting 
between  almost  equal  forces.  Grant  had  a  horse 
shot  under  him,  but  received  another  from  a  staff 
officer.  Gradually  the  Confederates  gave  ground, 
and  finally  fled  to  the  river  bank,  where  they  were 
covered  by  the  guns  from  Columbus.  Grant  then 
seized  the  camp,  and  here  his  men  scattered  in  the 
search  for  plunder  and  souvenirs  of  their  first  battle. 
Meanwhile  the  Confederates  retreated  along  the 


116  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

bank,  until  they  were  between  Grant  and  the  boats. 
Also  Polk,  who  had  been  held  in  check  by  Smith's 
advance,  finally  realized  the  plan  by  which  thus  far 
he  had  been  outgeneraled,  and  hurrying  four  regi 
ments  to  steamboats,  sent  them  across  the  river  as  a 
reinforcement.  With  the  prospect  of  another  battle, 
Grant,  unable  to  rally  his  disordered  forces,  set  fire 
to  the  camp,  and  ordered  a  retreat.  To  the  raw 
troops,  under  fire  for  the  first  time,  there  was  a  mo 
ment  of  panic,  as  the  Confederates,  with  fresh  regi 
ments  approaching,  now  attacked  their  flanks.  But 
Grant  reassured  his  men  that  since  they  had  cut 
their  way  in,  they  could  cut  it  out  again,  and  so  led 
them  back  to  the  boats.  The  troops  reimbarked 
on  their  transports,  taking  most  of  their  wounded, 
and  their  General  was  the  last  to  follow.  Indeed, 
the  planking  had  been  pulled  up,  but  it  was  hastily 
placed  in  position  again  as  Grant's  horse  slid  on  its 
haunches  down  the  river  bank,  and  so  bore  its  rider 
to  the  boat.  Both  McClernand  and  Logan,  con 
gressmen  and  soldiers,  served  in  this  battle  and 
received  their  baptism  of  fire.1 

Belmout  was  severely  criticized  in  the  North  as  a 
defeat,  and  it  is,  of  course,  evident  that  the  Con 
federates  remained  in  possession  of  the  field.  Grant, 
however,  claimed  the  battle  as  a  victory,  since  it 
caused  Polk  to  recall  his  detachments,  and  thus 
saved  Oglesby.  Moreover,  the  experience  gave  the 

1  The  losses  at  Belmont  were  as  follows  :  Union  :  Killed, 
120  ;  wounded,  383  ;  missing,  104.  Confederate  :  Killed,  105  ; 
wounded,  419  ;  missing,  117. 


THE  FIRST  BATTLES— FORT  DONELSON    117 

men  confidence  in  their  chief,  and  seasoned  them 
like  veterans.  "I  feel  truly  proud  to  command 
such  men, "  wrote  Grant  to  his  father  on  the  next 
day.  ".  .  .  we  fought  our  way  from  tree  to 
tree  through  the  woods  to  Belmont,  about  two  and 
a  half  miles,  the  enemy  contesting  every  foot  of 
ground.  ...  It  has  given  me  a  confidence  in 
the  officers  and  men  of  this  command  that  will  en 
able  me  to  lead  them  in  any  future  engagement 
without  fear  of  the  result. " 

During  the  next  three  months  there  were  many 
changes  in  the  military  situation.  Hunter  was  suc 
ceeded  by  General  Henry  W.  Halleck,  who,  on  No 
vember  19th,  assumed  command  at  St.  Louis.  At 
first  Grant  was  apprehensive  lest  he  should  lose  his 
command  to  some  one  with  whom  Halleck  was  better 
acquainted,  but  this  fear  was  fortunately  without 
foundation.  Cairo  was  fast  becoming  a  naval  centre 
as  well  as  a  military  post.  In  the  summer  of  1861 
James  B.  Eads  had  received  a  contract  for  the  con 
struction  of  seven  armored  gunboats,  of  light 
draught,  adapted  to  operations  on  the  rivers  of  the 
Middle  West.  He  pushed  this  contract  day  and 
night,  and  by  the  latter  part  of  November  this  fleet 
was  delivered  at  Cairo.  These  boats  were  so  con 
structed  as  to  draw  six  feet  of  water ;  they  carried  thir 
teen  heavy  guns  each,  were  plated  with  2  2  inch  iron 
and  had  a  speed  of  nine  miles  per  hour.  On  Sep 
tember  12th  Andrew  H.  Foote  arrived  at  Cairo, 
and  took  command  of  the  fleet.  Eiver  steamboats 
were  reconstructed  into  war  boats  by  the  addition  of 


118  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

armor,  and  these  "tin-clads,"  as  they  were  popu 
larly  called,  were  of  the  greatest  service  in  all  of  the 
campaigns  in  the  Mississippi  Valley. 

While  Grant  and  Foote  were  organizing  their 
forces,  the  pressure  of  contractors  caused  some 
trouble  at  Cairo.  It  is  a  matter  of  intense  regret 
that  every  great  struggle  brings  to  the  front  a  group 
of  men  who  seek  a  personal  profit  to  the  point  of 
extortion  in  the  hour  of  their  country's  danger. 
When  Thomas  A.  Scott,  then  Assistant  Secretary 
of  War,  arrived  at  Cairo,  in  February,  on  an  in 
spection  tour  for  the  government  he  found  many 
cases  of  graft.  Boats  which  had  been  bought  and 
sold  for  $6,000  before  the  war  were  being  leased  to 
the  government  for  $1,500  a  month.1  Against  the 
practices  of  the  dishonest  contractors,  Grant  took  a 
decisive  stand.  Even  when  his  father,  always  keen 
to  turn  a  dollar,  asked  for  the  influence  of  his  son 
iu  some  harness  contract,  Grant  replied,  "  I  cannot 
take  an  active  part  in  securing  contracts.  If  I  were 
not  in  the  army  I  should  do  so,  but  situated  as  I 
am,  it  is  necessary  both  to  my  efficiency  for  the 
public  good  and  my  own  reputation,  that  I  should 
keep  clear  of  government  contracts. "  Disappointed 
contractors,  whose  plans  for  profit  were  blocked  by 
this  unassuming  man,  found  it  to  their  advantage 
to  circulate  stories  as  to  his  habits  and  manner  of 
life,  and  these  found  quick  acceptance  in  army 
circles,  where  the  story  of  the  experiences  at  Fort 
Huinboldt  was  known,  generally  in  a  much  magni- 
1  See  Stanton  MSS.  Library  of  Coogress. 


THE  FIRST  BATTLES— FORT  DONELSON    119 

fied  form.  Moreover,  he  had  not  the  personality  to 
appeal  to  many  of  the  newspaper  men,  who  were  at 
Cairo,  and  some  of  these  used  their  great  influence 
to  give  credence  to  scandals  which  were  based  on 
nothing  but  ill-natured  gossip.  General  Prentiss 
justified  his  conduct  in  the  Cape  Girardeau  cam 
paign  by  saying  that  he  would  not  serve  under  a 
drunkard  !  Again,  when  Grant  visited  his  sub 
ordinates,  Charles  F.  Smith  and  Lew  Wallace,  at 
Paducah,  and  wine  and  cigars  were  served,  sen 
sational  accounts  were  presently  sent  to  Northern 
newspapers  describing  an  orgy  and  a  drunken  revel. 
Unquestionably,  the  most  serious  trouble  of  these 

months  arose  over  the  arrest  of  Captain  K ,  an 

officer  of  the  quartermaster's  department,  who  had 
a  boat  which  had  been  seized  by  the  government, 
and  who  demanded  a  compensation  which  to  Grant 
seemed  exorbitant.  As  the  captain  persisted  in 
pressing  his  demands,  Grant  finally  ordered  him 

under  arrest.     After  a  few  days  K wrote  Eaw- 

lins,  demanding  to  know  the  reason  for  his  arrest, 
whereupon  Grant  endorsed  on  the  letter  that  it  was 
for  disobedience  and  disrespect  for  his  superior 

officer.     Whereupon  K addressed  a  letter  to 

Halleck,  accusing  Grant  of  gambling,  drunkenness 
and  other  abominable  ofieuses.  Halleck  forwarded 
these  charges  to  Grant,  who  endorsed  thereon, 

"  Captain  K will  please  furnish  a  copy  of  these 

charges  for  this  office,  and  one  copy  to  be  sent  to 
the  headquarters  of  the  Department. — U.  S.  G." 
This  method  of  dealing  with  charges  that  savored 


120  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

of  blackmail  was  most  effective,  and  while  similar 
attacks  were  made  throughout  the  entire  course  of 
the  war,  yet  no  official  notice  was  ever  taken  of 
them. 

While  complicated  duties  and  personal  problems 
were  alike  demanding  attention,  Grant  was  pre 
paring  for  the  campaign  which  was  to  make  him  a 
national  figure.  The  Confederate  line  of  defense 
ran  from  Columbus,  through  Bowling  Green  to 
Cumberland  Gap,  and  was  under  the  general  com 
mand  of  Albert  Sidney  Johnston.  On  the  northern 
boundary  of  Tennessee,  where  the  Cumberland  and 
Tennessee  Kivers  were  but  twelve  miles  apart,  were 
two  forts,  Douelsou  and  Henry,  which  formed  the 
centre  of  the  line  of  defense.  Facing  the  Con 
federates  were  the  forces  under  Grant,  at  Cairo  and 
Paducah,  and  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  under  Don 
Carlos  Buell,  one  of  whose  divisions,  under  George 
H.  Thomas,  was  on  the  extreme  east  at  Cumberland 
Gap.  Halleck  and  Buell  had  independent  com 
mands,  both  being  subordinate  to  McClellan,  but  in 
the  sickness  of  the  latter,  in  the  winter  of  1861-1862, 
they  were  practically  without  instructions  from 
Washington.  Lincoln  strongly  urged  cooperation 
between  these  commanders,  but  both  were  cautious 
men,  and  while  Halleck  wanted  to  advance  down 
the  river,  Buell  favored  a  march  on  Nashville. 
It  is  quite  possible  that  the  spring  might  have 
arrived  with  no  accomplishment,  if  it  had  not  been 
for  Grant. 

Early  in  January,  under  Halleck 's  strict  direc- 


THE  FIEST  BATTLES— FOET  DONELSON    121 

tious  to  reconnoitre  but  to  avoid  a  battle,  Grant  had 
pushed  a  strong  column  out  from  Cairo  to  Fort 
Henry,  while  Foote  had  sent  his  gunboats  up  the 
river  to  the  same  point.  As  a  result,  Grant  re 
ported  personally  to  Halleck  at  St.  Louis  that  he 
could  take  the  fort.  "I  was  cut  short,"  he  says, 
u  as  if  my  plan  was  preposterous.77  But  in  spite  of 
this  discouragement  the  matter  was  brought  up 
again,  and  Foote  strongly  supported  Grant's  repre 
sentations.  Meanwhile,  on  January  19th,  Thomas 
had  won  a  decisive  victory  over  Zollicoffer  at  Cum 
berland  Gap,  and  Halleck  began  to  feel  that  if  he 
did  not  move  soon,  Buell's  army  would  carry  off 
the  laurels.  Moreover,  tidings  had  come  from  the 
East  that  Beauregard  would  soon  reinforce  Johnston, 
and  it  was  evident  that  delay  meant  playing  the 
Confederates7  game.  So  on  January  30th  Halleck 
telegraphed  orders  to  take  Fort  Henry,  and  two 
days  later  Grant  embarked  15,000  men  on  trans 
ports,  and  with  seven  gunboats  under  Foote,  started 
on  an  historic  expedition.1 

Fort  Henry  was  located  at  the  east  bank  of  the 
Tennessee,  and  was  connected  with  Fort  Donelson 
by  a  road  twelve  miles  long.  But  with  a  fatuity 
that  could  only  have  been  born  of  inexperience,  it 
had  been  built  upon  ground  so  low  that  it  was 
certain  to  be  covered  by  the  overflow  of  the  river  in 


1  There  is  not  the  opportunity  here  to  consider  the  mooted 
question  as  to  who  originated  this  expedition.  Buell,  McClel- 
lan  and  Halleck  have  each  been  assigned  the  credit  by  their 
partisans. 


122  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

the  spring  rains.  General  Lloyd  Tilghman  was  in 
command  with  about  3,500  men.  Kecognizing  the 
weak  point  of  his  situation,  he  had  tried  to  fortify 
the  heights  on  the  west  bank.  But  Grant's  rapid 
advance  prevented  this  plan.  The  transports  were 
unloaded  three  miles  below  the  fort,  and  while  one 
division  was  sent  over  to  the  west  bank  to  seize  the 
heights,  the  remainder  of  the  troops  were  marched 
toward  the  rear  of  the  fort  to  block  any  retreat  to 
Donelson.  Meanwhile,  Tilghman  had  decided  that 
his  position  was  untenable,  and  during  the  night  of 
February  5th,  he  ordered  his  forces  to  retire  to 
Donelson,  retaining  less  than  one  hundred  men. 
On  the  morning  of  February  6th,  the  gunboats 
steamed  up  the  river,  firing  when  one  mile  away, 
and  keeping  up  their  bombardment  until  within  six 
hundred  yards.  After  a  few  hours,  although  the 
Essex  had  been  disabled  by  a  shot  through  the 
boiler,  the  heaviest  guns  of  the  fort  were  silenced, 
and  Tilghman,  having  saved  his  army,  hauled  down 
his  flag,  and  surrendered  to  Foote.  Meanwhile, 
McClernand's  division  marched  to  the  road,  so  close 
upon  the  retreating  forces  that  six  pieces  of  ar 
tillery  and  thirty-eight  prisoners  were  taken.  Im 
mediately  after  the  victory  Grant  telegraphed  to 
Halleck  :  "  Fort  Henry  is  ours.  ...  I  shall 
take  and  destroy  Fort  Donelson  on  the  eighth. "  But 
in  this  calculation  he  neglected  to  consider  the 
weather,  for  the  river  was  now  steadily  rising,  and 
the  intervening  country  was  being  flooded. 
The  news  of  the  taking  of  Fort  Henry  was  re- 


THE  FIEST  BATTLES— FOET  DONELSON    123 

ceived  with  greafc  rejoicing  in  the  North,  and  special 
significance  was  given  to  the  triumph  of  the  navy, 
a  branch  of  the  service  in  which  the  South  was  con 
fessedly  weak.  The  panic  of  the  Confederates  in 
north  Tennessee  was  extreme,  and  some  even  drowned 
themselves  in  the  river  floods  in  their  hurry  to  re 
treat.  The  line  of  communication  between  Colum 
bus  and  Bowling  Green  was  broken,  and  Johnston, 
anticipating  a  sudden  attack  on  Fort  Donelson,  and 
threatened  by  a  forward  movement  of  BuelFs  army, 
faced  the  loss  of  west  Tennessee.  In  this  situation, 
the  highest  generalship  would  have  suggested  a  con 
centration  of  his  forces  upon  either  Grant  or  Buell, 
preferably  the  former,  who  had  pierced  the  enemy's 
country,  and  was  most  exposed  to  attack.  In 
stead  of  this  policy,  Johnston  determined  to  abandon 
Bowling  Green,  and  to  divide  his  forces,  so  as  to 
fight  for  Nashville  at  Donelson.  Tilghman  had  been 
in  general  command  of  both  forts,  and  after  the  con 
centration  of  his  army  on  the  Cumberland,  Fort 
Donelson  was  garrisoned  by  about  5,000  men.  To 
their  reinforcement,  Johnston  now  sent  Generals 
John  B.  Floyd  and  S.  E.  Buckner  with  8,000  men, 
and  later,  General  G.  J.  Pillow  with  4,000  more, 
and  himself  retreated  with  14,000  to  Clarksville  and 
Nashville.  Eeinforcemeuts  were  also  ordered  to 
Douelson  from  Columbus,  but  the  break  in  the  line 
at  the  Tennessee  Eiver  compelled  their  return.  Of 
these  commanders,  Buckner  was  Grant's  old  com 
rade  at  West  Point  and  his  friend  ;  Pillow  had  held 
high  command  in  the  Mexican  War,  but  was  rated 


124  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

low  by  his  opponent,  and  Floyd  had  been  Secretary 
of  War  in  Buchanan's  administration. 

While  this  concentration  was  taking  place,  Grant 
had  his  own  troubles  in  preparing  his  expedition 
for  Donelson.  The  condition  of  the  river  prevented 
the  sudden  march  which  he  had  designed,  and  he 
was  compelled  to  delay.  Writing  to  his  sister  from 
Fort  Henry  on  February  9th,  he  said  :  ' i  You  have 
no  conception  of  the  amount  of  labor  I  have  to  per 
form.  An  army  of  men  all  helpless,  looking  to  the 
commanding  officer  for  every  supply.  Your  plain 
brother,  however,  has  as  yet  no  reason  to  feel  him 
self  unequal  to  the  task,  and  fully  believes  that  he 
will  carry  on  a  successful  campaign  against  our 
rebel  enemy." 

The  day  after  the  surrender  of  Fort  Henry,  Grant 
made  a  personal  examination  of  the  works  of  the 
larger  fort,  and  determined  upon  a  speedy  attack. 
Foote  led  his  fleet  north  to  the  Ohio  Eiver,  and  then 
steamed  up  the  Cumberland  so  as  to  be  in  readiness 
for  his  part  in  the  fight.  He  convoyed  transports 
containing  some  fresh  regiments  which  Halleck  had 
ordered  to  the  scene.  On  February  12th,  Grant, 
leaving  General  Lew  Wallace  at  Fort  Henry  with 
2,500  men,  marched  across  the  belt  of  laud  separat 
ing  the  two  forts  with  two  divisions,  led  by  Gen 
erals  Smith  and  McClernaud,  numbering  15,000 
men.  But  while  this  force  would  have  been  ample 
to  have  invested  Donelson  in  the  previous  week,  the 
reinforcements  had  meanwhile  arrived,  and  Grant's 
force  was  actually  inferior  to  his  opponent's. 


THE  FIKST  BATTLES— FOET  DONELSON    125 

Fort  Donelson  was  situated  on  the  west  bank  of 
the  Cumberland  Biver,  half  a  mile  north  of  the  town 
of  Dover.  It  occupied  a  bluff  on  the  river  front, 
about  one  hundred  feet  high,  and  commanded  navi 
gation  by  two  water- batteries.  The  fort  proper  em 
braced  about  one  hundred  acres,  but  a  line  of  rifle- 
pits  and  abattis,  two  and  one-half  miles  in  length, 
had  been  throwu  up  on  the  crest  of  the  high  ground 
which  connected  the  fort  with  the  town  of  Dover. 
Behind  these  fortifications  was  the  Confederate 
army,  Buckner  commanding  on  the  right,  and  Pil 
low  on  the  left. 

The  Union  army  spent  February  13th  in  taking 
its  position,  Smith  on  the  left,  while  McClernand 
marched  around  to  the  right  to  block  the  road  from 
Dover  to  the  south.  It  was  soon  evident,  however, 
that  Grant's  forces  were  not  numerous  enough  to 
hold  the  entire  line,  and  Wallace  was  speedily  sum 
moned  from  Fort  Henry  and  placed  between  Smith 
and  McClernand,  with  a  hastily-organized  division, 
consisting  in  large  measure  of  the  troops  which  had 
come  by  the  transports.  Meanwhile,  the  weather 
changed,  and  on  February  13th  the  thermometer 
fell  to  ten  degrees  above  zero,  and  a  driving  rain 
was  succeeded  by  hail  and  snow.  The  suffering  of 
the  soldiers,  who  had  started  on  this  expedition 
without  heavy  coats  and  with  but  scanty  supplies, 
was  intense,  but  these  privations  only  served  to  whet 
their  desire  to  face  the  enemy  who  had  evaded  them 
one  week  before. 

On  the  morning  of  February  14th  the  fort  was 


126  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

completely  invested  on  the  land  side,  and  the  pre 
liminary  operations  had  been  in  the  main  successful. 
The  Confederates  had  missed  their  great  chance.  If 
they  had  attacked  Grant  while  his  columns  were  in 
march,  or  if  they  had  rolled  up  his  divisions  before 
they  were  in  position,  the  outcome  might  have  been 
different.  After  the  surrender,  Buckner  told  Grant 
that  if  he  had  been  in  command,  he  would  not  have 
allowed  the  Northern  army  to  take  position  so 
easily ;  to  which  Grant  replied,  that  if  he  had  not 
known  that  Buckuer  was  not  in  command,  he  would 
have  approached  in  a  far  different  manner. 

With  the  investment  completed,  Foote  then  led 
his  gunboats  to  the  attack,  hoping  to  repeat  the  suc 
cess  at  Fort  Henry.  But  now  the  conditions  were 
far  different.  The  water-batteries  and  the  cannon 
on  the  bluff  received  little  damage  from,  the  fleet, 
while  from  their  position,  the  Confederates  were  en 
abled  seriously  to  cripple  the  gunboats,  disabling 
two,  and  wounding  Foote,  who  was  compelled  to 
withdraw  his  fleet  for  repairs.  That  night  there 
was  a  council  of  war  in  the  Confederate  camp,  at 
which  it  was  decided  to  cut  a  way  of  retreat.  Pil 
low  was  placed  in  charge  of  a  sortie,  to  be  directed 
against  McClernand — so  as  to  command  the  road 
from  Dover — and  Buckner  withdrew  some  of  his  men 
from  the  right  so  as  to  be  in  a  position  to  assist. 

At  daybreak  on  the  morning  of  the  15th  Grant 
received  a  message  from  Foote,  asking  him  to  come 
on  board  the  St.  Louis  for  consultation.  Grant  at 
once  rode  up  to  the  anchorage  and  had  a  long  con- 


THE  FIEST  BATTLES— FORT  DONELSON    127 

ference  with  the  wounded  commander.  Finally,  it 
was  decided  that  Foote  should  return  to  Cairo  and 
refit  his  damaged  boats,  while  Grant  should  main 
tain  the  siege  until  Foote' s  return.  But  this  con 
clusion  was  strangely  altered  by  the  suddenness  of 
the  Confederate  attack.  In  the  early  morning 
hours,  Pillow  had  attacked  McClernand  with  a 
column  of  10,000  men,  and  although  bravely  re 
sisted,  he  had  gradually  driven  the  Union  forces 
away  from  the  road,  back  upon  Wallace.  It  was 
a  stubborn  contest,  but  at  length  the  supply  of 
ammunition  was  exhausted,  and  McClernand  was 
compelled  to  give  ground.  By  noon  the  way  of 
retreat  was  open,  and  the  Confederates  were  at 
liberty  to  retire.  But  the  success  of  his  attack  had 
altered  Pillow's  attitude,  and  he  now  began  to  have 
visions  of  a  complete  triumph.  Hastily  sending  off 
a  telegram  to  his  superiors  announcing  victory,  he 
ordered  Buckner  to  attack  Wallace,  and  so  to  follow 
up  his  success. 

Meanwhile,  Grant  returned !  He  was  greeted 
with  tidings  of  disaster  to  the  entire  right  wing. 
Unquestionably  he  faced  a  moral  crisis.  He  could 
have  retreated  now  with  honor,  since  the  attack  of 
the  gunboats  had  failed,  and  the  opposing  army  was 
almost  as  strong  as  his,  and  in  far  better  physical 
condition.  Never  did  his  mental  processes  show  to 
better  advantage  than  in  estimating  the  relative 
chances.  He  knew  the  weakness  of  his  position, 
but  he  did  not  forget  to  appraise  properly  the 
weaknesses  of  his  foe.  A  quick  messenger  was 


128  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

dispatched  to  Foote,  urging  that  the  gunboats  re 
appear  to  threaten  the  water-side.  "  A  terrible 
conflict  ensued  in  my  absence,  which  has  demoralized 
a  portion  of  my  command,  and  I  think  the  enemy  is 
much  more  so."  Then,  calculating  that  the  force 
opposite  Smith's  fresh  regiments  must  have  been 
reduced  to  strengthen  Pillow,  he  ordered  an  im 
mediate  attack  on  the  Confederate  right.  Eiding 
down  the  line  of  battle,  he  and  his  aides  passed 
around  the  word  that  the  enemy  were  trying  to  run 
away.  A  Confederate  knapsack  filled  with  rations 
was  picked  up,  and  it  aiforded  a  chance  for  the 
conclusion  that  their  soldiers  had  been  provisioned 
for  an  escape.  The  soldiers  quickly  responded  to 
these  appeals,  and  the  lines  were  reformed  for  the 
attack.  At  both  ends  of  the  line  Grant's  plans 
succeeded.  Smith,  leading  his  men  to  the  attack 
in  a  charge  which  was  the  feature  of  the  day, 
not  only  drove  back  the  Confederates,  but  even 
effected  a  lodgment  in  the  fort  itself,  holding  by 
nightfall  the  key  to  the  entire  Confederate  position. 
On  the  left,  McClernand  and  Wallace  regained  all 
of  the  lost  ground,  holding  the  road  more  firmly 
than  on  the  previous  day,  and  driving  Pillow  be 
hind  his  entrenchments. 

It  was  a  sad  evening  inside  the  fort.  Pillow  up 
braided  his  associates,  but  all  recognized  that  their 
position  could  not  be  maintained.  Floyd  was  under 
indictment  in  the  Federal  courts  for  malfeasance, 
and  both  he  and  Pillow  attached  over-great  impor 
tance  to  their  own  safety.  Finally,  Floyd  agreed  to 


THE  FIEST  BATTLES— FOET  DONELSON    129 

turn  over  the  command  to  Pillow,  provided  that  lie 
could  use  the  only  two  steamboats  for  his  own 
escape.  Pillow  in  turn  yielded  command  to 
Buckner,  who  announced  that  he  would  treat  with 
Grant  in  the  morning.  Before  the  morning  came, 
however,  Floyd,  with  1,500  Virginians,  had  sailed 
up  the  river  in  the  steamboats  ;  Pillow  and  his 
staff  were  ferried  across  the  river  in  a  flatboat  and 
so  made  their  escape  ;  Colonel  N.  B.  Forrest  with  a 
band  of  cavalry  rode  past  the  Federal  forces  on  an 
icy  crust  by  the  river ;  and  Buckner,  with  more 
than  12,000  men,  was  left  to  surrender. 

On  Sunday  morning,  February  16th,  Grant  was 
just  arranging  for  a  final  assault,  when  a  note 
arrived  from  Buckner  proposing  an  armistice  to 
arrange  for  terms  of  surrender.  Grant's  reply  be 
came  historic  :  "  Sir  :  Yours  of  this  date  proposing 
armistice  and  appointment  of  commissioners  to 
settle  terms  of  capitulation  is  just  received.  No 
terms  except  an  unconditional  and  immediate 
surrender  can  be  accepted.  I  propose  to  move 
immediately  upon  your  works."  Buckner  had 
conducted  himself  throughout  in  a  most  approved 
and  soldierly  manner,  and  he  recognized  that 
further  resistance  meant  the  useless  slaughter  of  his 
men,  and  so,  notwithstanding  that  he  styled  the 
terms  offered  as  "ungenerous  and  unchivalric, "  he 
accepted,  and  the  white  flag  was  displayed. 

An  interesting  side-light  on  the  nature  of  the  war 
is  presented  by  the  experience  of  General  Lew 
Wallace,  who,  as  soon  as  the  capitulation  was  an- 


130  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

nounced,  rode  into  the  Confederate  lines  with  his 
staff,  and  finding  Buckuer  at  breakfast,  sat  down  at 
table  with  his  old  army  friend  ! 

There  were  surrendered  with  Fort  Donelson 
about  12,000  men,  two  general  officers,  Buckner 
and  Bushrod  E.  Johnson,  20,000  stand  of  arms  and 
sixty  cannon.1  The  moral  effect  of  the  victory  was 
tremendous.  For  months,  the  anxious  North  had 
been  waiting  for  good  tidings  from  the  field  of 
battle.  Enormous  preparations  and  sacrifices  in 
numerable  had  been  made.  From  the  President  in 
the  White  House  to  the  anxious  mother  on  the 
humblest  farm, — all  were  waiting  for  some  news 
that  would  tell  for  progress.  When  the  telegraph 
carried  the  account  of  the  surrender  at  Donelson, 
the  North  went  delirious  with  joy — bonfires,  bell- 
ringing,  illumination.  In  Chicago,  the  Board  of 
Trade  adjourned,  and  from  Cincinnati  and  Indian 
apolis,  special  boats  and  trains  were  sent  with 
supplies  for  the  soldiers.  Lincoln  at  once  nominated 
Grant  as  a  Major-Gen eral  of  Volunteers,  to  date 
from  the  surrender,  and  the  Senate  confirmed  the 
appointment.  As  the  details  of  the  campaign  be 
came  better  known,  Grant's  letter  to  Buckner  was 
recognized  as  a  message  to  the  Union,  and  through 
the  appropriateness  of  the  initials,  "Sam"  Grant 
became  "Unconditional  Surrender"  Grant. 

Another  result  of  the  Donelson  Campaign  was 
that  it  marked  the  beginning  of  friendships  with 

1  The  Union  losses  in  this  battle  were  as  follows  :  Killed, 
510;  wounded,  2,152;  missing,  224. 


THE  FIRST  BATTLES— FOKT  DONELSON    131 

Wm.  T.  Sherman  and  James  B.  McPherson.  Sher 
man  was  in  command  at  Smithland,  and  hurried 
reinforcements  to  Grant,  sending  repeated  messages 
of  encouragement,  and  offering  to  come  up  the  river 
himself  and  waive  his  seniority  of  rank,  if  he  could 
but  help.  McPherson  was  now  attached  to  the 
staff  of  General  Halleck,  and  was  active  in  forward 
ing  troops  to  Grant.  The  after-friendship  of  these 
three  great  soldiers,  so  free  from  any  pettiness  or 
personal  rivalry,  is  one  of  the  beautiful  episodes  of 
the  war. 

The  son  of  the  leather-merchant  had  now  become 
a  national  figure,  and  all  awaited  the  next  steps  in 
his  progress. 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  CORINTH  CAMPAIGN — PITTSBURG  LANDING 

THE  capture  of  Fort  Donelson  shattered  the  Con 
federate  line  of  defense.  On  February  14th,  Johns 
ton  abandoned  Bowling  Green,  and  upon  hearing 
of  Grant's  victory,  at  once  determined  to  withdraw 
from  Nashville.  Buell  urged  the  Army  of  the  Ohio 
in  pursuit,  and  on  February  23d,  when  the  Confed 
erate  rear-guard  was  marching  out  of  Nashville, 
Buell' s  advance  was  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
river.  There  were  signs  of  demoralization  in  the 
Confederate  camp,  and  Grant  was  always  of  the 
opinion  that  a  vigorous  advance  at  this  time  could 
have  compelled  the  surrender  of  every  post  on  the 
Mississippi.  Certainly  the  Confederate  Government 
appreciated  the  situation,  and  reinforcements  with 
Beauregard,  who  was  to  act  as  second  in  command 
to  Johnston,  were  hurried  to  Tennessee.  Meanwhile 
Grant's  advance  compelled  Polk  to  abandon  his 
elaborate  fortifications  at  Columbus,  which  he  had 
boastfully  styled  "the  Gibraltar  of  the  West." 
The  artillery  was  removed  to  Island  No.  10,  situated 
in  a  bend  of  the  Mississippi  one  hundred  miles  be 
low  Cairo,  near  the  northern  boundary  of  Tennes 
see,  and  this  then  became  the  limit  of  Confederate 
power. 


THE  CORINTH  CAMPAIGN  133 

The  success  at  Fort  Donelson  had  but  emphasized 
the  need  of  cooperation  among  the  Federal  forces, 
and  illustrated  the  folly  of  having  two  armies  under 
independent  commanders  in  the  same  field.  Halleck 
was  not  slow  to  recognize  this, — "Make  Buell, 
Grant  and  Pope  major-generals  of  volunteers,  and 
give  me  command  in  the  West/'  he  telegraphed  to 
Washington.  i '  I  ask  this  in  return  for  Forts  Henry 
and  Donelson."  But  McClellan  was  not  willing  to 
effect  a  consolidation  of  responsibility  which  would 
result  in  limiting  the  independence  of  Buell.  Hal 
leck  became  more  importunate.  On  February  19th 
he  telegraphed  McClellan  :  i  i  Give  it  [the  Western 
division]  to  me,  and  I  will  split  secession  in  twain 
in  one  month  ;"  and  again,  later, — "I  must  have 
command  of  the  armies  in  the  West.  Hesitation 
and  delay  are  losing  us  the  golden  opportunity." 
It  would  seem  from  these  repeated  messages  that 
Halleck  was  fully  cognizant  of  the  unusual  chance 
for  opening  the  Mississippi.  In  fact,  however,  his 
orders  to  the  generals  in  the  field  were  confused  and 
contradictory,  and  show  clearly  the  total  absence  of 
any  proper  conception  of  the  real  situation.  Thus, 
immediately  after  the  surrender  of  Donelson,  his 
great  fear  was  that  the  Confederates  would  ascend 
from  Columbus  and  attack  Cairo  and  Paducah  ! 
Within  certain  obvious  limitations,  however,  Hal 
leck  had  two  great  merits — his  sense  of  system  and 
method  which  had  brought  order  out  of  chaos  in  the 
Western  field,  and  his  loyal  support  of  every  sub 
ordinate  in  the  field  when  he  needed  help,  which 


134  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

had  led  him  to  forward  reinforcements  aud  supplies 
to  Grant  before  Douelson,  and  afterward  to  each  of 
his  other  generals  in  their  time  of  need. 

While  the  government  was  trying  to  determine  a 
policy  for  the  West,  Grant  was  in  undeserved  dis 
grace.  After  dispatching  his  prisoners  to  Cairo,  he, 
now  with  an  army  of  27,000,  looked  around  him  for 
a  new  field  of  service.  He  resolved  to  proceed  up 
the  Cumberland  Kiver,  and  notifying  Halleck  of  his 
plan,  he  embarked  Smith's  division  on  the  trans 
ports  and  under  the  protection  of  the  gunboats 
took  possession  of  Clarksville  on  February  20th. 
Meanwhile  Nelson's  division  of  the  Army  of  the 
Ohio  had  reported  to  him  at  Donelson,  and  Grant 
directed  these  well-trained  regiments  to  continue  up 
the  river  to  Nashville,  where  they  rejoined  Buell's 
command.  Here  Grant  met  Buell,  whom  he  found 
apprehensive  of  a  Confederate  attack,  and  here  he 
received  orders  to  return  to  Fort  Henry  and  prepare 
an  expedition  to  go  up  the  Tennessee  Eiver,  even  as 
far  as  northern  Mississippi  and  Alabama.  But 
when  Grant  arrived  at  Fort  Henry  on  March  4th, 
he  received  the  following  message  from  Halleck : 
"You  will  place  Major-General  C.  F.  Smith  in  com 
mand  of  expedition,  and  remain  yourself  at  Fort 
Henry.  Why  do  you  not  obey  my  orders  to  report 
strength  and  positions  of  your  command?"  So 
that  three  weeks  after  the  first  great  Northern  vic 
tory,  the  victor  in  that  struggle  saw  his  place  taken 
by  another ! 

For  this  action  Halleck  placed  the  blame  on  Me- 


THE  CORINTH  CAMPAIGN  135 

Clellan,  and  the  latter  attributed  it  to  the  former. 
Halleck  had  been  asking  McClellan  for  reinforce 
ments,  and  McClellan  had  called  on  Halleck  for  a 
full  report  on  the  disposition  of  troops  in  his  de 
partment.  Halleck,  in  turn,  had  called  on  Grant 
for  information  and  had  received  no  answer,  for  his 
message  had  not  been  received  until  Grant  returned 
from  Nashville.  Meanwhile  Halleck,  becoming  im 
patient  with  no  response,  learned  through  an 
anonymous  letter  that  there  had  been  some  disorder 
among  the  troops  at  Donelsou,  and,  on  edge  with 
worry,  jumped  at  the  conclusion  that  the  com 
mander  had  gone  off  to  Nashville  on  some  sort  of 
junketing  expedition.  On  March  2d  Halleck 
wired  to  McClellan,  "  I  have  had  no  communica 
tion  from  Grant  all  the  week.  Pie  left  his  command 
without  my  authority  and  went  to  Nashville.  .  .  . 
I  can  get  no  report,  no  information  of  any  kind  from 
him.  Satisfied  with  his  victory,  he  sits  down  and 
enjoys  it  without  any  regard  to  the  future.  I  am 
worn  out  and  tired  with  this  neglect  and  inefficiency. " 
In  reply,  McClellan  directed  Grant's  arrest,  if  the 
good  of  the  service  required  it.  On  March  4th 
Halleck  again  reported  to  his  chief :  "  A  rumor  has 
just  readied  me  that  since  the  taking  of  Fort  Donel- 
son  Grant  has  resumed  his  former  bad  habits.  If 
so,  it  will  account  for  his  repeated  neglect  of  my 
often-repeated  orders.  I  do  not  deem  it  advisable  to 
arrest  him  at  present,  but  have  placed  General  Smith 
in  command  of  the  expedition  up  the  Tennessee.  I 
think  Smith  will  restore  order  and  discipline. " 


136  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

Not  until  after  the  war  was  over  did  Grant  learn 
that  his  removal  was  based  on  Halleck's  charges. 
He  replied  to  his  chief  in  respectful  protest,  stating 
that  he  had  reported  daily,  and  asking  that  he  be 
relieved  from  command.  Meanwhile,  McClellan 
had  started  on  his  Peninsular  Campaign,  and  one  of 
the  first  results  was  evidenced  on  March  llth,  when 
he  was  removed  from  general  control  of  the  army, 
and  Halleck  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  Western 
departments,  as  far  east  as  Knoxville,  thus  embrac 
ing  Buell's  command.  Two  days  before  this  order, 
Thomas  A.  Scott  had  telegraphed  to  Stan  ton  that  he 
was  sorry  to  hear  of  Grant's  removal  from  command 
of  the  Tennessee  expedition.  "The  effect  on  the 
men,  on  the  eve  of  the  forward  movement  up  the 
Tennessee,  will  be  rather  prejudicial  than  other 
wise.7'  Lincoln  was  commencing  to  appreciate  the 
difficulties  caused  by  professional  jealousies,  and 
lest  injustice  might  be  done,  directed  Halleck  to  re 
port  at  once  upon  Grant's  conduct.  A  few  days 
later  Halleck  replied,  completely  exonerating 
Grant,  and  at  the  same  time  notified  him  to  resume 
command  of  his  army.  "  Instead  of  relieving  you, 
I  wish  you,  as  soon  as  your  new  army  is  in  the  field, 
to  assume  the  immediate  command  and  lead  it  on  to 
new  victories." 

During  the  two  weeks  of  this  experience,  Grant's 
anxiety  was  extreme,  but  when  the  episode  was 
closed,  he  wrote  to  Washburne  his  account  of  the 
difficulty  in  these  terms  :  "  After  getting  into  Donel- 
son,  General  Halleck  did  not  hear  from  me  for  near 


THE  COBINTH  CAMPAIGN  137 

two  weeks.  It  was  about  the  same  time  before  I 
heard  from  him.  I  was  writiog  every  day,  and 
sometimes  as  often  as  three  times  a  day.  Eeported 
every  move  and  change,  the  condition  of  my  troops, 
etc.  Not  getting  these,  General  Halleck  very  justly 
became  dissatisfied,  and  was,  as  I  have  since  learned, 
sending  me  daily  reprimands.  Not  receiving  them, 
they  lost  their  sting.  When  one  did  reach  me,  not 
seeing  the  justice  of  it,  I  retorted,  and  asked  to  be 
relieved.  All  is  now  understood,  however,  and  I 
feel  sure  that  General  Halleck  is  fully  satisfied.  In 
fact,  he  wrote  me  a  letter  saying  that  I  could  not  be 
relieved,  and  otherwise  quite  complimentary.  I 
will  not  tire  you  with  a  longer  letter,  but  assure  you 
again  that  you  shall  not  be  disappointed  in  me  if  it 
is  in  my  power  to  prevent  it." 

The  Tennessee  River  expedition  had  started  un 
der  Smith  on  March  10th.  Stopping  at  various 
strategic  points  on  the  river,  the  advance-guard, 
under  General  Sherman,  had  even  reached  Eastport, 
in  the  northern  part  of  Mississippi,  and  landed 
there,  with  a  view  to  the  destruction  of  a  railroad 
bridge.  Meanwhile  the  spring  freshets  had  caused 
the  overflow  of  the  river,  and  Sherman  was  unable 
to  move  his  men  on  land.  So  he  returned  down  the 
river  to  same  high  ground  at  Pittsburg  Landing, 
where  he  found  Hurlburt' s  division  encamped.  This 
reconnaissance  showed  that  the  Confederates  were 
in  considerable  force  in  the  direction  of  Corinth,  an 
important  railroad  centre  about  twenty  miles  south 
of  the  Landing.  Upon  Sherman's  return  he  found 


138  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

that  Grant  had  been  restored  to  his  command,  and 
Smith  was  suffering  from  an  untimely  wound,  that 
later  ended  his  promising  career. 

When  Grant  rejoined  his  comrades  on  the  Ten 
nessee,  there  was  a  general  feeling  that  a  decisive 
battle  would  soon  be  fought.  As  early  as  March 
1st,  Scott,  in  writing  Stanton,  predicted  a  great  bat 
tle  near  the  Tennessee  line.  It  was  evident  that  the 
surrender  of  Corinth  would  cause  the  evacuation  of 
Memphis,  and  hence  the  abandonment  of  the  state 
to  the  North.  Recognizing  the  outlook,  Halleck 
ordered  Buell  to  bring  his  army  to  the  line  of  the 
river,  to  make  a  junction  with  Grant,  but  his  later 
orders  were  not  definite  as  to  the  line  of  march,  and 
so  this  concentration  was  delayed. 

Meanwhile,  Johnston  had  determined  to  make  a 
desperate  effort  to  destroy  Grant's  army  before 
Buell  arrived.  Corinth  was  a  junction  point  for 
two  railroads — the  Memphis  and  Charleston,  run 
ning  east  and  west,  and  the  Mobile  and  Ohio,  run 
ning  north  and  south.  From  all  directions,  rein 
forcements  were  hurried  to  the  Confederate  camp. 
Polk  brought  his  men  from  Columbus,  and  Bragg 
arrived  with  a  large  detachment  from  the  coast. 
By  the  end  of  March,  Johnston  had  a  well-appointed 
army  of  40,000,  with  100  guns,  divided  into  three 
corps,  commanded  by  Polk,  Bragg  and  Hardee,  and 
a  reserve  under  Breckinridge,  the  whole  commanded 
by  the  general  in  whom  Davis  had  most  supreme 
confidence,  with  Beauregard  as  second  in  command. 

While  the  enemy  was  concentrating  for  attack, 


THE  CORINTH  CAMPAIGN  139 

Grant  was  awaiting  the  arrival  of  Buell,  before 
operating  against  Corinth.  He  had  five  divisions 
at  Pittsburg  Lauding,  under  Sherman,  Hurlburt, 
Prentiss,  McCleruand  and  W.  H.  L.  Wallace,  who 
had  succeeded  Smith  in  active  command.  One  di 
vision,  under  Lew  Wallace,  was  at  Crump's  Land 
ing,  five  miles  below,  protecting  transports  and 
stores,  and  Grant  himself  was  at  Savannah,  on  the 
east  bank  of  the  river,  nine  miles  below  the  Land 
ing,  where  Buell's  forces  were  expected  to  concen 
trate.  In  all,  Grant  had  also  about  40,000  men  in 
cluding  Lew  Wallace,  but  the  divisions  of  Sherman 
and  Prentiss  were  raw  recruits,  who  received  their 
first  real  drilling  on  the  battle-field. 

Pittsburg  Landing  was  on  the  west  bank  of  the 
Tennessee,  and  was  surrounded  by  high  but  broken 
ground.  It  was  a  strong  position  for  defense.  On 
the  north  was  Snake  Creek,  and  its  tributary,  Owl 
Creek,  and  on  the  south  was  Lick  Creek,  all  im 
passable  at  this  season  by  fording.  Between  these 
two  were  the  camps  of  the  five  divisions,  with  a 
front  of  about  three  miles,  covering  the  Landing  in 
the  rear.  Sherman  was  on  the  extreme  right  at 
Shiloh  Church,  with  Stuart's  brigade  on  the  ex 
treme  left,  at  the  mouth  of  Lick  Creek ;  next  was 
Prentiss's  division,  and  in  the  rear  were  McCler 
uand' s  and  Hurlburt' s  divisions  ;  and  then  near  the 
Landing  was  W.  H.  L.  Wallace.  These  troops  were 
not  in  line  of  battle  ;  there  were  breaks  between  reg 
iments  and  brigades,  and  there  were  no  entrench 
ments  of  any  kind, — it  was  simply  a  camp. 


140  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

On  April  3d  the  Confederate  army  marched  out 
from  Corinth,  but,  although  the  distance  to  the 
Landing  was  only  twenty  miles,  the  roads  were  in 
such  a  wretched  condition  that  it  was  Saturday  after 
noon,  April  5th,  before  they  had  reached  the  Fed 
eral  line.  Beauregard  had  charge  of  the  formation 
for  the  battle  and  he  had  arranged  the  army  in  three 
parallel  lines,  the  first  consisting  of  Hardee's  corps, 
then  Bragg's,  while  Folk's  corps  formed  the  third 
line  with  Breckinridge  in  reserve.  When  the  Con 
federates  were  in  position  for  the  attack,  there  was 
a  council  of  war,  at  which  Beauregard  suggested  an 
abandonment  of  the  attack.  He  argued  that  the 
march  had  been  so  delayed  by  the  condition  of  the 
roads  that  obviously  the  enemy  must  have  had  some 
notice,  and  consequently  the  effect  of  a  surprise 
would  be  lost.  But  Johnston,  realizing  the  hope 
lessness  of  a  battle  after  the  junction  with  Buell 
should  have  been  effected,  overruled  him,  and  or 
dered  an  attack  for  daybreak. 

It  is  difficult  to  conceive  that  a  hostile  army  of 
40,000  could  have  camped  in  the  woods  within  two 
miles  of  the  Federal  line,  and  not  have  been  discov 
ered,  but  nevertheless,  that  is  the  fact.  Grant  usu 
ally  spent  the  daytime  at  the  Landing,  and  then 
retired  at  night  to  Savannah,  where  he  was  await 
ing  Buell.  On  April  4th  there  had  been  skirmish 
ing  on  the  picket-line,  and  as  he  was  returning  from 
the  front,  his  horse  slipped  in  the  mud,  and  fell  on 
his  leg,  causing  an  injury  which  kept  him  on 
crutches  for  the  next  few  days.  On  April  5th 


THE  COBINTH  CAMPAIGN  141 

Grant  wrote  to  Halleck  :  "  I  have  scarcely  the  faint 
est  idea  of  an  attack  being  made  upon  us,  but  will 
be  prepared  should  such  a  thing  take  place."  It  is 
evident  that  the  victories  of  the  earlier  campaign 
had  imbued  all  minds  with  the  notion  that  the  Con 
federates  had  not  the  spirit  for  an  offensive  attack, 
and  that  they  would  quietly  await  at  Corinth  the 
onset  of  their  enemy.  On  the  same  day,  Nelson's 
division  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio  arrived  at  Savan 
nah,  and  was  ordered  by  Grant  to  Hamburg,  four 
miles  above  the  Landing,  where  there  was  a  road  to 
Corinth,  parallel  to  that  from  the  Landing,  so  that 
the  two  columns  could  march  on  the  common  foe, 
within  supporting  distance  of  each  other. 

But  the  foe  had  no  intention  of  awaiting  an  attack 
at  Corinth.  Early  on  Sunday  morning,  April  6th, 
Prentiss  ordered  three  companies  to  make  a  skir 
mish  in  front  of  his  lines.  Advancing  through  the 
woods  for  a  mile,  they  met  Hardee's  corps,  about 
five  o'clock,  and  thus  the  battle  opened.  The  Con 
federates  advanced  slowly  but  steadily  until  they 
met  the  main  line  of  battle  under  Sherman  and 
Prentiss.  It  is  difficult  to  describe  the  battle  of 
Pittsburg  Landing,  or  Shiloh,  as  the  Confederates 
termed  it.  As  has  been  well  said  by  General  Force  : 
"A  combat  made  up  of  numberless  separate  en 
counters  of  detached  portions  of  broken  lines,  con 
tinually  shifting  position  and  changing  direction  in 
the  forest  and  across  ravines,  filling  an  entire  day, 
is  almost  incapable  of  a  connected  narrative. "  1 
1  M.  F.  Force,  "From  Fort  Henry  to  Corinth,"  p.  124. 


142  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

The  nature  of  the  ground  hindered  offensive  op 
erations.  In  general,  the  battle-field  was  shaped 
like  an  equilateral  triangle,  about  three  miles  on 
each  side.  On  the  east  was  the  line  of  the  Tennes 
see  Eiver,  with  the  steamboat-lauding  about  mid 
way,  and  here  was  the  key  of  the  position,  since 
without  its  control  reinforcements  could  not  be  re 
ceived  or  a  retreat  conducted.  On  the  northwest 
line  were  Snake  and  Owl  Creeks,  impassable  to  the 
enemy  for  a  flank  attack,  spanned  by  two  bridges 
about  two  miles  apart,  for  the  river  and  Purdy 
roads,  by  which  Lew  Wallace  must  approach.  On 
the  southwest,  closing  the  mouth  of  the  triangle, 
was  the  Federal  line  of  battle,  extending  three  miles 
from  Sherman,  holding  the  creek  on  the  right,  to 
Stuart  by  the  river  on  the  left.  Within  this  area 
there  were  forest,  ravines,  marshes,  clearings,  im 
penetrable  thickets  and  dense  brush,  averaging  ten 
feet  in  height. 

After  the  preliminary  skirmishing,  the  full  force 
of  Hardee's  attack  fell  upon  Sherman  and  Prentiss. 
As  the  other  columns  of  Confederates  came  up,  the 
Northern  troops  were  compelled  gradually  to  retire. 
Then  ensued  a  series  of  almost  individual  combats. 
A  regiment  or  brigade  would  take  position  on  the 
edge  of  a  clearing,  a  marsh,  or  ravine,  and  hold  it, 
until  the  overwhelming  force  of  the  enemy  would 
outflank  the  northern  line.  Then  the  Federals 
would  retire  and  form  a  new  line  of  battle  in  the 
rear,  reach  out  to  connect  with  their  friends  on 
either  side,  and  make  a  new  stand.  Thus,  McCler- 


THE  COEINTH  CAMPAIGN  143 

nand's  division  had  eight  separate  lines  of  battle 
during  the  day. 

As  soon  as  the  heavy  fighting  commenced,  the  di 
visions  nearer  the  Lauding  hurried  up  to  the  line  of 
battle,  and  eventually  by  ten  o'clock  a  fairly  con 
tinuous  line  had  been  formed  from  right  to  left,  as 
follows, — Sherman,  McClernand,  Wallace,  Prentiss, 
Hurlburt  and  Stuart's  brigade.  In  spite  of  the  sud 
denness  of  the  attack,  and  the  rawness  of  many  of 
the  men,  this  line  was  held  with  great  vigor  and 
fortitude,  and  there  can  be  no  question  but  that  the 
division  commanders  performed  their  work  skil 
fully  and  bravely.  But  the  Confederates  had  the 
advantage  in  numbers  and  the  momentum  of  a  suc 
cessful  attack.  Moreover,  in  the  excitement  of  the 
battle,  and  the  disorder  of  continually  shifting  po 
sitions,  men  straggled  from  their  battle-line  and  fled 
to  the  Landing.  Even  with  these  losses,  the  resist 
ance  was  so  great  that  it  caused  Johnston  to  lose 
sight  of  his  original  object,  which  had  been  to  turn 
the  Federal  left  so  as  to  seize  the  Lauding,  and,  in 
stead,  to  waste  precious  time  and  life  in  direct  frontal 
attacks. 

This  was  the  situation  when  Grant  arrived.  He 
had  spent  the  night  at  Savannah,  and  while  at  break 
fast,  had  heard  the  sound  of  heavy  firing  from  Pitts- 
burg  Lauding.  Leaving  a  hurried  note  for  Buell,  who 
had  arrived  at  Savannah  during  the  previous  night, 
he  took  a  steamboat  up  the  river  to  join  his  army. 
On  his  way,  he  stopped  at  Crump's  Landing,  and 
found  Lew  Wallace,  with  his  men  under  arms, 


144  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

awaiting  orders.  Arriving  at  the  Landing  about 
eight  o'clock,  Grant  rode  out  on  the  line  of  battle, 
and  recognizing  the  seriousness  of  the  situation,  dis 
patched  orders  for  Wallace  to  coine  up  at  once,  and 
also  sent  to  Buell  to  bring  up  the  Army  of  the  Ohio. 
Unfortunately,  Wallace's  instructions  as  to  roads 
were  not  clear,  and  he  started  on  the  inner  or  Purdy 
road,  which  would  have  brought  him  into  the  Con 
federate  rear.  In  the  afternoon  he  was  found  and 
recalled  by  Grant's  orders  to  the  river  road,  but  the 
detour  cost  several  valuable  hours. 

Meanwhile  Grant,  on  the  field  of  battle,  rode  from 
general  to  general,  encouraging  them  with  the  hope 
of  early  reinforcements,  and  directing  that  the  line 
be  held  as  strongly  as  possible.  He  had  little  to  do 
with  the  tactics  of  the  battle.  Karely  has  there  been 
seen  a  fight  in  which  all  of  one  army  was  continu 
ously  engaged  against  all  of  the  other  which  was  on 
the  battle-field.  As  Grant  said  in  his  "Memoirs," 
it  was  i '  Southern  dash  against  Northern  pluck  and 
endurance, "  and  the  best  that  generals  could  do 
was  to  stimulate  the  fighting  qualities  of  their  men. 

In  the  early  afternoon,  about  2: 30  P.  M.,  Johns 
ton,  while  leading  his  men  in  an  assault  against 
the  centre,  was  mortally  wounded,  but  his  death 
caused  no  permanent  cessation  of  hostilities.  Even 
tually,  about  5  : 30  P.  M.,  a  disaster  occurred  in  the 
Federal  centre,  where  Prentiss  and  Wallace  had  so 
bravely  defended  a  slope  against  repeated  attacks, 
that  their  position  was  called  the  "Hornets'  Nest." 
Stuart  was  obliged  to  give  ground,  and  his  retreat 


THE  COKINTH  CAMPAIGN  145 

forced  Hurlburt  back.  On  the  right,  McClernand 
had  reformed  on  Sherman.  This  left  the  two  divi 
sions  in  the  centre  isolated,  and  Bragg  poured  his 
men  into  the  openings.  Grant  had  impressed  upon 
Prentiss  the  necessity  of  holding  his  position,  and  so 
he  determined  to  maintain  his  ground.  Wallace, 
with  most  of  his  division,  cut  his  way  through  the 
enemy,  receiving  a  mortal  wound,  which  closed  thus 
early  a  most  promising  military  career.  Prentiss, 
however,  was  surrounded  by  overwhelming  forces, 
and  with  2,200  of  his  men  was  obliged  to  surrender. 

The  stubborn  resistance  of  the  centre  had  saved 
the  day.  Webster,  of  Grant's  staff,  had  formed  a 
line  of  artillery  on  a  bluff  on  the  extreme  left,  to 
protect  the  Landing.  Ammen's  brigade  of  Nelson's 
division,  the  advance  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  went 
into  the  same  position.  The  last  Confederate  at 
tack  on  this  bloody  Sunday  was  made  here,  and 
with  its  failure,  Beauregard,  who  had  succeeded 
Johnston,  ordered  his  men  to  cease  fighting  for  the 
day.  Meanwhile  two  gunboats,  the  Tyler  and  Lex 
ington,  had  taken  position  in  line  with  the  artillery 
and  shelled  the  woods  beyond,  and  eventually  the 
Confederates  retired  about  a  mile,  or  to  the  position 
of  the  Federal  camps  in  the  early  morning. 

During  the  night,  Wallace's  division  arrived  on 
the  extreme  right,  and  Nelson,  Critteuden,  and  in 
the  early  morning,  McCook,  took  position  on  the 
extreme  left.  These  reinforcements  brought  26,000 
fresh  men  into  line,  and  Grant  determined  to  reopen 
the  battle  the  next  day.  Buell  was  to  command  his 


346  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

men  on  the  left,  and  Grant,  with  the  remnants  of  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  on  the  right.  At  day 
break  the  battle  commenced,  this  time  the  Federals 
being  the  aggressors.  Against  fresh  troops  and 
stronger  numbers,  Beauregard  interposed  a  stub 
born  but  ineffectual  resistance.  His  men  soon  be 
came  exhausted,  and  large  numbers  fell  out  of  line 
aud  straggled  back  to  Corinth.  Everywhere  the 
aggressors  were  the  victors,  and  in  the  early  after 
noon,  when  Grant  himself  headed  an  attack  on  the 
Corinth  road,  Beauregard  gave  the  word  to  with 
draw. 

There  was  practically  no  pursuit.  Two  days  of 
the  hardest  kind  of  fighting  had  used  up  the  Army 
of  the  Tennessee,  and  while  the  Army  of  the  Ohio 
had  suffered  much  less  in  the  battle,  its  men  were 
exhausted  with  their  forced  marches  to  the  battle 
field.  A  vigorous  pursuit  might  have  taken  Corinth, 
for  the  Confederates  were  equally  worn  out  and  dis 
organized,  but  this  opportunity,  like  many  another 
in  the  early  days  of  the  war,  was  not  utilized.1 

No  battle  of  the  war  has  given  rise  to  more  con 
troversy,  on  both  sides,  than  Pittsburg  Lauding. 
The  critics  charged  that  Grant's  army  was  surprised 
in  its  tents,  that  there  were  no  proper  prepara 
tions,  with  an  enemy  so  close  at  hand,  and  that  the 

1  The  total  losses  were  reported  as  follows  : 
Federals — 

Grant :  killed,  1,513  ;  wounded,  6,601  ;  missing,  2,830. 

Bnell  :      "  241;         "          1,807;         "  55. 

Confederates — 

killed,  1,728;        "         8,012;        "  959. 


THE  COKINTH  CAMPAIGN  147 

battle  was  fought  without  system  or  direction.  The 
Army  of  the  Ohio  asserted  that  it  had  saved  the 
day,  and  that  without  Buell's  reinforcement,  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee  would  have  been  driven  into 
the  river  ;  that  when  Buell  arrived,  Grant's  army 
had,  in  large  measure,  straggled  to  the  rear  and  was 
completely  disorganized.  On  the  other  hand,  Grant 
aud  Sherman  vehemently  denied  that  there  was  any 
surprise,  and  pointed  out  the  alarm  given  by  the 
pickets  and  the  stubborn  resistance  during  the 
hard  fighting  of  the  first  day  as  evidence  that  their 
army  did  all  that  could  be  expected  of  it.  Grant 
always  claimed  that  the  Confederates  would  have 
been  defeated  even  if  Buell  had  not  arrived,  and 
that  the  back-bone  of  the  enemy's  attack  had  been 
broken  before  any  of  the  Army  of  the  Ohio  were  in 
the  battle-line.  The  truth  probably  lies  between 
these  two  extremes.  Grant  was  not  expecting  an  ag 
gressive  movement  by  the  enemy  and  consequently, 
only  ordinary  precautions  were  taken  at  the  camp, 
but  when  the  attack  came  there  was  no  surprise  in 
the  sense  that  the  defenders  were  immediately 
routed  and  fled.  The  stubborn  resistance  on  the 
part  of  soldiers,  many  of  whom  were  then  obtaining 
their  first  baptism  of  fire,  disproves  absolutely  this 
conception  of  a  surprise  at  Shiloh.  The  victory 
was  won  by  the  common  soldiers,  and  not  by  gen 
eralship. 

Another  point  of  controversy  concerning  which 
many  excited  narratives  have  been  given,  related  to 
Grant's  conduct  on  the  field  of  battle.  He  gave  few 


148  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

orders,  but  then  it  was  the  kind  of  fight  in  which  few 
orders  needed  to  be  given.  Perhaps  the  best-sub 
stantiated  episode  is  that  reported  by  Whitelaw 
Eeid,  who  was  then  serving  his  apprenticeship  as  a 
newspaper  correspondent,  and  who  states  that  in  the 
late  afternoon,  when  the  last  attack  was  made  on  the 
artillery  protecting  the  Landing,  Grant  sat  his  horse, 
"quiet,  thoughtful  and  almost  stolid,"  and  when 
one  asked  him  if  the  prospect  was  not  gloomy,  re 
plied,  ' '  Not  at  all.  They  can' t  force  our  lines  around 
these  batteries  to-night — it  is  too  late.  .  .  .  To 
morrow  we  shall  attack  them  with  fresh  troops  and 
drive  them,  of  course."  From  this  conversation, 
says  Eeid,  he  dated  the  beginning  of  his  belief  in 
Grant's  greatness.  Many  great  generals  have  made 
mistakes  through  inexperience — even  Frederick  the 
Great  counted  Mollwitz  as  his  training-school ;  and 
the  best  that  can  be  said  for  Grant  is  that  whatever 
mistakes  may  have  been  made  at  Shiloh  were  never 
repeated  in  his  after-career. 

Among  the  Confederates,  the  controversy  has 
raged  with  equal  bitterness.  The  friends  of  Johnston 
created  an  apotheosis  of  this  much-admired  com 
mander  and  described  him  as  dying  in  the  moment 
of  victory,  the  results  of  which  were  afterward 
thrown  away  by  his  successor.  Bragg  severely 
criticized  Beauregard  for  ordering  a  cessation  of  at 
tack  at  six  o'clock  on  the  first  day,  claiming  that 
one  more  united  effort  would  have  broken  down  the 
resistance  of  the  enemy  and  swept  Grant's  army 
into  the  river.  Perhaps  the  fairest  comment  that 


THE  COEINTH  CAMPAIGN  149 

can  be  made  is  that  the  generalship  on  both  sides 
showed  lack  of  experience  in  handling  large  bodies 
of  men,  and  that  the  fighting  qualities  on  each  side, 
both  of  soldiers  and  generals,  were  equally  admirable. 

The  reports  of  the  battle  in  the  Northern  news 
papers  created  an  outburst  of  public  sentiment 
against  Grant.  It  was  freely  charged  that  he  had 
neglected  his  army  through  dissipation,  that  he  had 
recklessly  exposed  his  men,  and  that  he  was  in  the 
rear  in  the  time  of  crisis.  This  public  exasperation 
was  doubtless  increased  by  the  dismay  at  the  tre 
mendous  loss  of  life.  Pittsburg  Landing  was  the 
bloodiest  battle  that  had  ever  been  fought  up  to  this 
time  in  the  history  of  the  Union.  If  this  campaign 
had  occurred  a  few  months  later,  when  the  public 
mind  had  been  accustomed  to  heavy  losses  on  the 
battle-field,  there  probably  would  have  been  a  bet 
ter  balance  in  the  popular  attitude.  But  the  pub 
lic  was  inexperienced  as  well  as  the  generals,  and 
there  arose  a  sudden  but  wide-spread  clamor  for 
Grant's  dismissal.  In  Congress  Washburne  was 
still  his  friend,  but  there  were  few  others.  Colonel 
A.  K.  McClure  has  narrated  a  visit  to  Lincoln  which 
he  made  at  this  time  to  voice  the  protest  against 
Grant's  continuance  in  command.  It  was  then  that 
Lincoln  replied,  after  long  deliberation,  li  I  can't 
spare  this  man  ;  he  fights. "  l 

Upon  the  same  day  that  Beauregard  retired  from 
the  bloody  field  at  Shiloh  a  great  victory  had  been 

McClure,  "Abraham  Lincoln  and  Men  of  War-Times," 
p.  196. 


150  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

won  on  the  Mississippi,  when  the  Confederate  gar 
rison  at  Island  No.  10,  surrounded  and  outnumbered, 
with  Federal  gunboats  above  and  below,  surrendered 
to  General  Pope.  On  April  llth,  General  Halleck 
arrived  at  Pittsburg  Lauding  and  taking  personal 
command,  proceeded  to  organize  an  attack  upon 
Corinth.  Ten  days  later  Pope's  army  was  brought 
down  from  the  Mississippi  and  this  gave  Halleck 
100,000  men,  the  largest  army  which  had  ever  as 
sembled  west  of  the  Alleghauies.  He  reorganized 
this  well-equipped  force  into  three  divisions, — 
Thomas  with  the  bulk  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee 
forming  the  right  wing,  Buell  with  the  Army  of  the 
Ohio  in  the  centre,  and  Pope  with  the  Army  of  the 
Mississippi  formiug  the  left  wing.  Grant  was  osten 
sibly  second  in  command,  but  as  the  other  generals 
reported  directly  to  Halleck  he  was  practically  ig 
nored  in  the  campaign  which  followed.  Meanwhile 
Beauregard  with  his  defeated  army  had  been  largely 
reinforced  from  Arkansas,  so  that  he  held  Corinth 
with  about  50,000  men. 

The  proper  strategy  would  have  suggested  that  the 
Confederate  army  was  the  real  objective  point,  and 
that  the  overwhelming  superiority  of  the  Federals 
should  have  been  employed  in  blocking  the  retreat 
of  the  enemy.  Instead  Halleck,  whose  native  cau 
tion  had  been  much  increased  by  the  slaughter  at 
Shiloh,  determined  upon  a  careful  siege.  With  ex 
cessive  deliberation  the  Federal  forces  devoted  the 
month  of  May  to  marching  the  twenty  miles  from 
Pittsburg  Lauding  to  Corinth.  Beauregard  recog- 


THE  CORINTH  CAMPAIGN  151 

nized  that  resistance  was  useless,  and  on  May  29th 
removed  his  men  and  supplies,  taking  even  the 
wounded,  sixty  miles  south  to  Tupelo,  leaving  as 
trophies  for  the  victors  only  a  few  logs  mounted  as 
Quaker  cannon. 

While  the  capture  of  Corinth  was  thus  a  barren 
victory,  its  possession  was  of  great  strategic  im 
portance.  A  few  days  later  Fort  Pillow  was  aban 
doned  and  on  June  6th  Memphis,  the  leading  city 
of  Tennessee,  surrendered  to  the  Federal  fleet. 
Some  weeks  before,  Farragut  and  Butler  had  con 
ducted  a  successful  campaign  at  New  Orleans  so  that 
the  Mississippi  Elver  was  now  open  at  its  month 
and  was  under  Federal  control  except  for  the  forti 
fications  at  Vicksburg,  four  hundred  miles  below 
Memphis.  Again  a  golden  opportunity  was  missed. 
If  twenty  thousand  men  had  been  sent  against 
Vicksburg  which  then  had  not  been  extensively  for 
tified  and  where  there  was  the  only  line  of  railroad 
running  east  and  west  under  Confederate  control, 
it  is  probable  that  the  summer  of  1862  would  have 
witnessed  the  opening  of  the  Mississippi.  Instead 
Halleck  divided  his  forces.  The  Army  of  the  Ohio 
under  Buell,  and  later  Thomas,  was  sent  east  along 
the  line  of  the  Memphis  railroad  to  threaten  Chatta 
nooga.  Beauregard,  who  had  been  relieved  from 
command  because  of  non-success,  was  succeeded  by 
Bragg  who  led  over  half  of  his  army  by  way  of  Mo 
bile  to  Chattanooga  to  block  Buell's  plans.  The  re 
mainder  of  the  Confederate  forces  under  Van  Dorn 
remained  in  Mississippi  to  protect  Vicksburg. 


152  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

During  the  Corinth  campaign  Grant  occupied  an 
unenviable  position.  The  clamor  against  him  in 
the  North,  while  it  had  not  affected  his  associates 
in  the  battle,  had  certainly  inspired  Halleck  with 
distrust,  and  he  was  practically  in  disgrace.  Sher 
man,  in  his  "Memoirs,"  states  that  shortly  after  the 
evacuation  of  Corinth,  he  learned  that  Grant  was 
going  to  leave  the  army.  He  at  once  rode  out  to  the 
headquarters  and  found  Grant  and  his  staff  packing 
up.  When  he  inquired  the  reason,  Grant  said, 
"  Sherman,  you  know.  You  know  I  am  in  the  way 
here.  I  have  stood  it  as  long  as  I  can,  and  can  en 
dure  it  no  longer."  His  faithful  friend  remon 
strated,  pointing  out  the  sudden  changes  in  public 
sentiment  which  might  be  expected,  and  finally 
Grant  reconsidered  his  intention.  Better  days  were 
in  store.  McClellan's  failure  before  Richmond  had 
diverted  the  clamor  to  another,  and  on  July  llth 
Halleck  was  ordered  to  Washington  to  command  all 
of  the  armies  of  the  North.  He  took  Pope  with  him 
and  left  Grant  in  charge  of  the  district  of  west  Ten 
nessee  embracing  the  territory  west  of  the  Cumber 
land  River  with  headquarters  at  Corinth  and  Mem 
phis. 

Halleck 's  grand  army  had  been  so  depleted  with 
detachments  that  Grant  had  scarcely  50,000  men  to 
hold  the  district  from  Cairo  to  Corinth,  most  of 
whom  were  needed  for  garrison  duty.  Grant  placed 
Sherman  at  Memphis  and  made  his  own  headquar 
ters  at  Corinth.  For  some  time  his  orders  prohib 
ited  offensive  operations,  as  it  was  expected  that 


THE  COBINTH  CAMPAIGN  153 

his  men  might  be  needed  to  reinforce  Buell.  More 
over  the  controversy  about  Sliiloh  was  still  raging 
in  the  newspapers  and  Grant's  superiors  had  not  yet 
full  confidence  in  his  ability.  Writing  to  his  father 
on  August  3d,  he  said,  "  You  must  not  expect  me  to 
write  in  my  own  defense  nor  to  permit  it  from  any 
one  about  me.  I  know  that  the  feeling  of  the  troops 
under  my  command  is  favorable  to  me,  and  so  loug 
as  I  continue  to  do  my  duty  faithfully  it  will  remain 
so.  .  .  .  I  do  not  expect  nor  want  the  support 
of  the  Cincinnati  press  on  my  side."  Later,  on 
September  17th,  he  wrote  to  his  father  again  :  "I 
have  not  an  enemy  in  the  world  who  has  done  me 
so  much  injury  as  you  in  your  efforts  in  my  defense. 
I  require  no  defenders  and  for  my  sake  let  me 
alone." 

In  the  autumn  of  1862,  two  decided  victories 
were  won  by  Grant's  command  at  luka  and  Corinth. 
General  Eosecraus  commanded  at  Corinth,  and  was 
opposed  by  a  strong  army  which  Price  had  led  from 
Missouri  to  cooperate  in  Bragg's  Northern  invasion. 
Price  seized  luka,  which  was  twenty  miles  south 
east  from  Corinth,  and  Grant  planned  an  attack 
upon  this  isolated  force.  Eosecrans,  with  9,000  men, 
advanced  from  Corinth  by  a  western  road,  while 
Grant,  with  8,000  men  under  Ord,  hurried  toward 
luka  from  the  north.  Price  attacked  Eosecrans  on 
September  19th,  and  was  fought  to  a  standstill,  but 
learning  of  the  approach  of  Ord's  column,  he 
hastily  evacuated  luka,  and  abandoning  all  hope  of 
joining  Bragg,  he  slipped  around  Eosecraus,  and 


154  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

joined  his  forces  to  Van  Dora's  army  in  northern 
Mississippi. 

Early  in  October  Van  Dorn  united  all  of  the 
forces  under  his  command  for  the  attack  upon 
Corinth,  which  he  vainly  hoped  would  throw  Grant 
back  to  Fort  Donelsou.  Grant  had  not  sufficient 
forces  to  garrison  properly  all  the  points  of  this  dis 
trict,  but  learning  of  the  approach  of  Van  Doru,  he 
hurried  McPherson  and  Hurlburt  to  Eosecrans's 
aid  and  the  battle  of  Corinth,  which  was  fought  on 
October  4th,  was  a  complete  victory  for  the  North, 
Van  Dora's  frenzied  assaults  being  repulsed  with 
great  slaughter.  On  October  25th,  Grant  was  placed 
in  command  of  the  department  of  Tennessee  charged 
with  the  special  duty  of  taking  Vicksburg.  Eeiu- 
forcements  were  hurried  to  him  from  the  northwest, 
and  after  a  few  weeks  he  was  once  more  in  a  posi 
tion  to  assume  the  offensive. 

He  was  now  to  enter  upon  the  campaign  which 
from  the  point  of  view  of  tactics  and  strategy  must 
ever  be  regarded  as  the  most  brilliant  of  his  career  ! 


CHAPTER  VIII 

VICKSBUEG 

THE  autumn  of  1862  was  the  high-water  mark  of 
Confederate  success.  Along  three  lines  the  armies 
of  the  South  invaded  the  territory  held  by  their  foe, 
in  a  vain  effort  to  throw  back  the  tide  of  Northern 
invasion.  In  the  East,  McClellan's  failure  before 
Richmond  gave  Lee  an  opportunity  for  the  invasion 
of  Maryland,  which  finally  culminated  in  defeat  at 
Autietam.  In  the  Middle  West  Bragg  united  his 
forces  for  a  sudden  movement  north,  and  passing 
Buell's  army,  threatened  Nashville,  Louisville  and 
even  Cincinnati,  and  seizing  Lexington,  inaugurated 
a  secessionist  governor  for  Kentucky  in  Frankfort. 
Eventually,  this  movement  spent  its  force,  and 
Bragg  was  compelled  to  withdraw  again  to  Ten 
nessee.  In  the  line  of  the  Mississippi,  the  Con 
federate  advance  under  Van  Dorn  and  Price 
attained  least  momentum,  and,  at  luka  and  Corinth, 
was  most  decisively  repelled,  and  as  a  result  the 
successful  commander  of  this  department  increased 
most  in  prestige. 

Meanwhile,  a  change  had  come  over  the  char 
acter  of  the  war.  The  bloody  battles  of  the  East  and 
West  had  ended  all  visions  of  an  easy  victory,  and 
both  sides  now  realized  the  intensity  of  the  struggle. 


156  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

It  was  war,  cruel  and  grim,  to  be  continued  on  a  con 
tinental  scale  until  there  was  a  complete  triumph, 
and  gradually  public  opinion  became  educated  to 
the  magnitude  of  the  task.  "Up  to  the  battle  of 
Shiloh,  I,  as  well  as  thousands  of  other  citizens,  be 
lieved  that  the  rebellion  against  the  Government 
would  collapse  suddenly  and  soon,  if  a  decisive  vic 
tory  could  be  gained  over  any  of  its  armies.  .  .  . 
But  when  Confederate  armies  .  .  .  assumed  the 
offensive  and  made  such  a  gallant  effort  to  regain 
what  had  been  lost,  then,  indeed,  I  gave  up  all  idea 
of  saving  the  Union  except  by  complete  conquest. " 
Such  was  Grant's  opinion  in  the  "Memoirs,"  and 
with  the  spread  of  this  conviction  the  war  now  as 
sumed  a  sterner  and  more  sombre  aspect.  The  Con 
federates  were  no  longer  u  erring  brothers  " — they 
were  enemies, — traitors  with  arms  in  their  hands 
whose  power  must  be  completely  destroyed. 

As  the  early  visions  of  reconciliation  vanished, 
the  policy  of  the  Government  became  more  deter 
mined  and  radical.  Against  the  tremendous  pres 
sure  of  the  Abolitionists,  Lincoln  stood  out  strongly 
against  converting  a  war  for  the  Union  into  a  war 
against  slavery.  But  when  this  policy  of  modera 
tion  had  given  opportunity  for  reviving  and  con 
solidating  the  spirit  of  loyalty  to  the  Union  in  the 
border  states,  it  became  evident  that  slave  labor  was 
being  used  by  the  South  in  many  lines  which 
hampered  the  success  of  the  North.  Those  who 
were  to  be  the  chief  beneficiaries  of  a  successful  war 
were  employed,  under  the  pressure  of  their  masters, 


VICKSBUKG  157 

in  erecting  fortifications,  raising  supplies,  etc.,  for 
the  defeat  of  the  war.  Some  of  the  early  command 
ers  recognized  this  problem  when  they  ingeniously 
declared  the  negro  to  be  "  contraband  of  war,"  and 
encouraged  the  escape  of  slaves  to  the  Northern  lines 
where  they  could  be  used  in  the  work  of  the  cam 
paign.  Public  sentiment  in  the  North  had  come  to 
recognize  that  a  restoration  of  the  Union  with  slavery 
was  impossible,  and  hence  was  ready  to  support  the 
policy  of  emancipation  set  forth  by  Lincoln  in  the 
memorable  Proclamation  of  September  22,  1862. 

Until  this  announcement  Grant  was  but  little  in 
terested  in  abolition.  His  early  associations  with 
his  wife's  family  in  St.  Louis  had  enabled  him  to 
see  the  patriarchal  aspect  of  slavery  which  presented 
its  most  favorable  light.  As  a  soldier,  it  was  his 
business  to  obey  orders  and  to  fight,  not  to  discuss 
political  policies.  "  So  long  as  I  hold  a  commission 
in  the  army,"  he  wrote  to  Washburne,  u  I  have  no 
views  of  my  own  to  carry  out.  Whatever  may  be 
the  orders  of  my  superiors  and  the  law,  I  will 
execute.  No  man  can  be  efficient  as  a  commander 
who  sets  his  own  notions  above  law  and  those  whom 
he  has  sworn  to  obey.  When  Congress  enacts  any 
thing  too  odious  for  me  to  execute,  I  will  resign. " 
This  military  attitude  had  already  brought  upon 
him  the  criticism  of  the  extremists.  After  Fort 
Done!  son,  it  was  freely  charged  that  he  had  driven 
away  negroes  from  his  camp,  and  had  even  sent 
slaves  back  to  their  masters.  The  basis  for  the 
charge  seems  to  have  been  this, — some  negroes  rep- 


158  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

resented  that  they  were  free  men,  brought  to  the 
fort  to  work  for  pay.  These  were  allowed  to  go 
away  to  their  homes,  but  even  thus  early  slave 
owners  were  not  permitted  to  pass  through  the 
camp  in  search  of  slaves. 

While  commander  at  Memphis,  the  problem  of 
the  negroes  became  more  acute.  In  a  country  where 
secession  was  rampant,  practically  all  of  the  slave 
holders  were  enemies,  and  the  slaves  were  not  slow 
to  avail  themselves  of  the  presence  of  the  armies  of 
the  North.  The  plantations  were  left  deserted,  al 
though  in  many  cases  the  fields  were  ripe  for  the 
harvest,  and  a  frightened  horde  of  negroes  followed 
the  armies,  asking  for  protection,  food  and  all  the 
necessaries  of  life.  Grant  wired  to  Halleck  for  in 
structions,  and  when  word  was  received  that  these 
freedmen  could  be  employed,  he  at  once  determined 
to  organize  them  as  a  help  to  his  campaign.  Early 
in  November  he  appointed  John  Eaton,  then 
chaplain  of  an  Ohio  regiment,  to  take  charge  of  the 
contrabands.  Henceforth,  the  negroes  were  received 
by  the  army,  and  Eaton  assigned  them  to  work,— 
picking  cotton,  cutting  wood,  transporting  supplies, 
etc.  They  were  paid  a  regular  wage  for  their  work, 
and  the  cotton  from  the  abandoned  plantations 
was  sold  for  the  credit  of  the  Government,  to  meet 
the  expense  of  their  subsistence.  In  this  work, 
paralleled  by  the  experience  of  other  commanders 
on  the  Atlantic  Coast,  was  the  inception  of  the  idea 
of  the  Freedmeu's  Bureau.  There  were  some  com 
manders  who  regarded  this  long -oppressed  race  with 


VICKSBUEG  159 

contempt,  and  who  spoke  slightingly  of  efforts  to 
give  the  negro  the  dignity  of  self-support,  but  from 
the  beginning,  says  Eaton,  "  there  was  no  room  for 
doubt  as  to  the  value  and  rarity  of  Grant's  sympathy 
and  foresight."1 

Nor  was  the  care  for  the  freedmen  the  only  non- 
niilitary  duty  of  a  department  commander  in  a  con 
quered  region.  The  desire  for  cotton  brought  many 
speculators  to  Memphis,  and  they  were  soon  fol 
lowed  by  a  rapacious  army  of  contractors,  sutlers, 
etc.,  whose  patriotism  was  limited  by  their  desire  to 
make  money  out  of  the  Government.  With  this 
class  Grant  was  never  popular.  His  wide  experi 
ence  as  a  quartermaster,  and  his  familiarity  with 
business  conditions,  as  well  as  his  personal  integrity, 
made  it  impossible  to  bribe  him,  and,  in  army  mat 
ters,  difficult  to  fool.  In  one  case  the  contractors 
for  forage  had  formed  a  pool,  and  the  lowest  price 
was  one-third  higher  than  the  price  in  the  open 
market.  The  quartermaster- general  at  St.  Louis 
approved  kthe  contract,  but  Grant  annulled  it,  and 
when  a  contest  was  threatened,  notified  the  con 
tractor  that  he  would  never  approve  a  voucher  for  a 
single  cent  under  that  contract.  When  one  of 
Lincoln's  closest  political  friends  interceded  in  a  hay 
contract,  Grant  threatened  him  with  arrest.  Hasten 
ing  to  Washington,  the  indignant  lawyer  laid  his 
complaint  before  the  President,  to  be  met  with  the 
characteristic  retort, — "If  I  were  you,  I  should 
keep  out  of  Ulysses  Simpson's  bailiwick,  for  to  the 

1  John  Eaton,  "  Grant,  Lincoln  and  the  Freedmen,"  p.  45. 


160  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

best  of  my  knowledge  and  belief,  Grant  will  keep  his 
promise  ! " 

While  all  this  administrative  work  was  progress 
ing,  large  additions  to  the  army  had  been  received, 
and  the  call  of  the  country  was  peremptory  for  an 
advance  to  Vicksburg.  At  the  end  of  1862,  the 
leading  strongholds  of  the  South  were  Eichmond, 
Vicksburg  and  Chattanooga,  and  of  these  three,  it 
may  be  questioned  whether  even  the  capital  equaled 
Vicksburg  in  its  importance  to  the  life  of  the  Con 
federacy.  The  Eed  Eiver,  which  flows  through 
Texas  and  Louisiana  for  1,200  miles  before  it  empties 
into  the  Mississippi,  was  the  great  artery  of  com 
merce,  whereby  food  supplies  were  brought  to  the 
Southern  armies.  When  Halleck's  advance  was 
stayed  at  Corinth,  Van  Dorn  had  used  his  men  in 
creating  elaborate  fortifications,  above  and  below 
the  Eed  Eiver,  so  as  to  protect  this  line  of  com 
munication.  About  thirty  miles  below  the  mouth 
of  the  Eed  Eiver  was  Port  Hudson,  which  had  now 
become  a  fortified  post  of  considerable  importance. 
But  one  hundred  miles  above  its  mouth,  nature  had 
united  with  the  highest  engineering  skill  which  the 
Confederates  could  command,  to  make  a  defense 
which  at  first  view  seemed  impregnable. 

Vicksburg  was  situated  on  a  line  of  bluffs,  some 
two  hundred  feet  high,  on  one  of  the  many  bends  of 
the  Mississippi  Eiver,  about  two  hundred  miles 
south  of  Memphis  in  a  straight  line,  but  double  that 
distance  by  the  many  twists  and  loops  of  the  river. 
The  elevation  which  parallels  the  Mississippi  on  its 


VICKSBURG  161 

east  bank  from  Columbus  to  Memphis  leaves  the 
river  at  the  latter  point  and  goes  inland,  rejoining 
the  river  again  at  Vicksburg,  and  thence  the  high 
ground  continues  to  Port  Hudson.  Some  miles 
north  of  Vicksburg  is  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo 
River,  which  runs  its  tangled  course  northward, 
generally  at  the  foot  of  the  line  of  bluffs.  Between 
the  Yazoo  and  the  Mississippi  is  an  area  about  two 
huudred  miles  long  and  sixty  in  width,  of  flat  low 
land,  pierced  with  rivers,  bayous,  and  swamps,  sub 
ject  to  overflow  in  fluctuations  of  tide  and  season, 
and  altogether  impenetrable  to  invasion.  The  Con 
federates  had  fortified  the  line  of  bluffs  northward 
from  Vicksburg,  the  leading  centre  being  at  Haiues' 
Bluff,  about  twelve  miles  from  the  city.  South  from 
Vicksburg,  they  had  similarly  fortified  Warreutou 
and  Grand  Gulf,  tweuty-five  miles  below.  Such 
then  was  the  scene  of  the  next  campaign.  The 
cannon  on  the  heights  of  Vicksburg  commanded  the 
commerce  of  the  Mississippi,  and  protected  the 
traffic  of  the  Bed  Eiver,  and  the  flat  land  north  of 
the  city  was  nature's  veto  to  an  invading  army. 

Nor  were  the  Confederates  slow  in  rallying  to  the 
defense  of  this  indispensable  post.  After  the  battle 
of  Corinth,  Van  Dorn  had  been  relieved,  and 
Lieutenant-General  John  C.  Pemberton  was  placed  in 
charge  of  the  defense.  He  was  a  native  of  Pennsyl 
vania,  but  had  come  under  the  influence  of  Jeffer 
son  Davis  in  his  army  service,  and  was  highly 
esteemed  by  his  chief.  Pemberton  was  given  about 
50,000  men  to  hold  the  line  of  the  Mississippi,  ex- 


162  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

tending  from  Port  Hudson  to  Haiues'  Bluff,  and  then 
back  to  Jackson,  the  capital  of  the  state,  forty  miles 
east  from  Vicksburg.  As  Grant's  plans  developed 
and  the  menace  of  his  forces  was  more  clearly 
recognized,  reinforcements  were  sent  to  Pemberton 
from  Bragg,  and  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston,  of 
whom  Grant  afterward  said  that  he  gave  him  more 
anxiety  than  any  other  Confederate  general,  was 
placed  in  charge  of  both  Bragg  and  Pemberton,  so 
as  to  promote  unity  in  operations. 

Two  early  attempts  had  been  made  upon  Vicks 
burg  in  1862,  neither  of  which  resulted  in  any  de 
gree  of  success.  In  May,  after  the  taking  of  New 
Orleans,  Farragut  came  up  the  river,  with  some  of 
his  fleet,  and  a  small  land  force  under  General  Will 
iams.  After  a  careful  reconnaissance,  they  de 
manded  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg,  but  when  it  was 
refused,  they  had  not  the  force  for  a  successful  attack. 
So  after  a  bombardment  the  fleet  withdrew.  Next 
month  Farragut  returned,  this  time  with  mortar- 
boats,  escorting  General  Williams  with  a  force  of 
3,200  men.  Williams  lauded  his  men  on  the  west 
bank,  and  started  a  canal  through  the  neck  of  land 
opposite  Vicksburg.  Meanwhile,  Farragut  bom 
barded  the  forts,  and  eventually  led  his  fleet  up  the 
river,  past  the  batteries.  It  was  then  that  he  wrote 
to  Halleck,  asking  for  15,000  men  to  take  the  city, 
but  the  latter  had  already  commenced  the  dispersion 
of  the  grand  army  at  Corinth,  and  hence  refused  the 
request.  A  few  weeks  later,  Davis  led  his  fleet, 
recently  victorious  at  Memphis,  down  the  river  and 


VICKSBUBG  163 

joined  Farragut,  and  both  squadrons  now  threatened 
the  city.  But  the  bluffs  of  the  "  lofty  hill-city,"  as 
Mark  Twain  called  Vicksburg,  were  impregnable  to 
a  gunboat  attack,  and  when  the  river  began  to  fall, 
Farragut  returned  to  the  South,  and  Davis  could 
only  maintain  a  blockade  of  the  river  north  of  the 
Vicksburg  batteries.  In  the  autumn  of  1862  Van 
Dorn  extended  and  strengthened  the  fortifications, 
so  that  instead  of  the  twenty-six  guns  which  Will 
iams  encountered,  there  were  one  hundred  and 
seventy-two  when  Grant  entered  the  city  ! 

By  November,  1862,  Grant  was  in  sufficient  force 
to  undertake  an  offensive  campaign,  and  the  proper 
line  of  advance  was  now  the  question.  Up  to  this 
time  the  Mississippi  had  been  opened,  through  a 
combination  of  the  gunboats  operating  on  the  river, 
and  a  parallel  advance  of  the  army,  marching  in 
the  interior,  and  compelling  the  abandonment  of 
various  posts  on  the  river,  as  they  were  successively 
outflanked.  The  success  of  this  method  naturally 
suggested  to  Grant  an  advance  into  the  interior  of 
Mississippi,  which  would  compel  the  abandonment 
of  the  great  fortifications  on  the  river.  Such  an  ad 
vance  required,  however,  large  quantities  of  supplies 
for  his  army,  and  he  could  no  longer  use  the  Ten 
nessee  Eiver  for  this  purpose.  He  was  obliged, 
therefore,  to  guard  the  railroads  from  Memphis  and 
Corinth  to  the  front,  and  to  accumulate  supplies  at 
various  posts  in  the  rear.  John  Fiske  has  estimated 
that  an  army  of  50,000  men,  three  days  from  its  base 
of  supplies,  would  require  1,900  wagons,  drawn  by 


164  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

11,000  animals,  each  day's  march  moving  from  the 
base,  of  course,  increasing  the  requirements.  Grant 
would  probably  have  preferred  to  have  abandoned 
Corinth,  and  to  draw  his  supplies  from  Memphis, 
rather  than  on  the  longer  line  from  Columbus  to 
Corinth,  but  Halleck  would  not  agree,  so  in  prepar 
ing  for  an  advance  large  forces  were  left  on  garrison 
duty  in  the  rear. 

While  Grant,  with  40,000  men,  was  to  advance  on 
the  interior,  Sherman,  with  about  30,000,  taken  from 
Memphis  and  Helena,  was  to  proceed  down  the 
Mississippi,  and  attack  Vicksburg  in  front.  Al 
though  this  plan  involved  a  division  of  the  army, 
which  with  an  enterprising  foe  might  have  resulted 
in  disaster,  it  had  a  possibility  of  success.  Grant 
hoped,  by  his  direct  attack,  to  keep  Pemberton's 
army  engaged  in  the  interior,  so  that  Sherman's  ad 
vance  might  have  the  advantage  of  surprise,  and 
find  Vicksburg  bereft  of  defenders.  By  the  middle 
of  December,  Grant  had  advanced  to  Oxford,  about 
one-fourth  of  the  way  to  Jackson,  but  meanwhile 
the  foe  was  concentrating  against  him.  Bragg  sent 
his  cavalry,  under  Forrest,  over  the  Tennessee 
Eiver  to  cut  the  railroad  between  Corinth  and 
Columbus,  and  that  dashing  commander  succeeded 
admirably.  Meanwhile  Van  Dorn,  with  3,500  of 
Pemberton's  cavalry,  advanced  against  Grant's  com 
munications,  and  on  December  20th  seized  Holly 
Springs,  destroying  practically  all  of  the  stores  there. 
This  unexpected  reverse  severed  Grant's  line  of 
communications,  and  he  at  once  ordered  a  retreat, 


VICKSBUEG  165 

during  which  his  men  subsisted  by  foraging  on  the 
country.  By  January  8th  he  was  again  in  touch 
with  Memphis,  and  learning  that  Sherman  had  been 
defeated,  he  ordered  his  army  to  the  river,  intend 
ing  to  make  his  next  advance  from  that  direction. 

Meanwhile,  Sherman  had  taken  his  men  down  the 
Mississippi  to  the  mouth  of  the  Yazoo  ;  thence  sail 
ing  up  that  tortuous  stream,  he  landed  at  Chickasaw 
bayou,  on  the  low  land  in  front  of  the  line  of  bluffs. 
After  a  careful  examination  of  the  ground  north 
from  Vicksburg  to  Haiues'  Bluff,  Sherman  deter 
mined  to  attack  about  five  miles  north  of  the  city 
in  the  centre  of  an  elevation  known  as  Walnut 
Hills,  or  Chickasaw  Bluffs.  On  the  high  ground 
were  the  rifle-pits  and  artillery  of  the  Confederates. 
Below,  there  was  a  succession  of  streams  and  marshes, 
only  passable  along  certain  clearly -defined  paths. 
It  would  be  impossible  to  conceive  of  a  more  diffi 
cult  place  for  an  assault,  for  although  Sherman  had 
a  marked  superiority  in  numbers,  he  had  no  oppor 
tunity  to  use  it.  On  December  29th  Sherman  as 
saulted,  and  although  his  men  showed  their  usual 
gallantry,  the  loss  of  nearly  two  thousand  in  killed 
and  wounded  without  effecting  a  lodgment  on  the 
bluffs  showed  the  strength  of  the  enemy's  position. 
At  this  time  Sherman  had  not  heard  of  Grant's  re 
treat,  and  yet  his  men  could  see  that  train  loads  of 
reinforcements  were  being  hurried  to  Vicksburg. 
Convinced  that  there  was  no  chance  of  a  successful 
surprise,  and  threatened  with  flood  on  the  low 
ground  by  the  heavy  rains,  Sherman  retired  to  the 


166  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

mouth  of  the  Yazoo,  where  he  was  joined  by  Mc 
Clernand,  who  now  took  charge  of  the  expedition. 

During  the  autumn  of  1862  Grant's  plans  were 
seriously  affected  by  the  anomalous  position  of  Gen 
eral  McCleruaud,  who  had  served  under  him  during 
several  of  his  earlier  campaigns.  This  ambitious 
leader,  while  not  a  West  Pointer,  had  shown  some 
aptitude  for  military  work.  Lincoln  appreciated 
his  services  with  special  good-will  because,  al 
though  a  Democrat,  McClernand  had  thrown  himself 
with  ardent  loyalty  into  the  war  for  the  Union.  In 
1862  he  had  visited  Washington,  and  received  con 
fidential  orders  to  enlist  soldiers  in  the  northwest 
for  an  expedition  to  open  the  Mississippi,  under  his 
own  command.  Halleck  never  wavered  in  his  pur 
pose  that  McClernand  was  to  serve  under  Grant,  but 
McClernand  himself  hoped  and  expected  to  receive 
an  independent  command.  Orders  were  sent  to 
Grant  to  place  McClernand  in  command  of  the 
Mississippi  expedition,  but  Sherman  started  before 
these  orders  could  be  communicated  to  him,  and  it 
was  only  after  the  battle  that  McClernand  overtook 
him.  Sherman,  now  learning  for  the  first  time  of 
Grant's  retirement  to  Memphis,  suggested  that  his 
force  should  be  utilized  in  an  attack  upon  Arkansas 
Post,  a  strong  fort  forty  miles  up  the  Arkansas 
Eiver,  which  could  be  made  the  base  of  flank  at 
tacks  upon  any  army  operating  against  Vicksburg. 
McClernand  approved  of  the  idea,  and  on  January 
9th  the  fort  was  invested,  and  two  days  later  sur 
rendered  with  over  5,000  prisoners.  McClernand 


VICKSBUKG  167 

then  planned  an  Arkansas  campaign,  but  Grant  had 
now  arrived  in  Memphis  in  supreme  command,  and 
was  not  willing  that  the  best  portion  of  his  army 
should  be  drafted  off  in  what  he  called  a  "  wild- 
goose  chase."  So  McClernand  and  Sherman  were 
ordered  back  to  Milliken's  Bend,  where  on  January 
30th  Grant  assumed  personal  charge. 

Meanwhile,  the  plan  of  campaign  was  changed. 
Reorganizing  his  army  into  four  corps,  Grant  left  the 
Sixteenth  Corps,  under  Hurlburt,  at  Memphis  to  pro 
tect  western  Tennessee,  and  ordered  McPherson,  with 
the  Seventeenth  Corps,  down  the  river  to  join  Mc 
Clernand  and  Sherman,  who  were  henceforth  to  com 
mand  the  Thirteenth  and  Fifteenth  Corps  respect 
ively.  Now  commenced  the  real  siege  of  Vicksburg, 
the  problem  being  to  effect  a  lodgment  on  the  high 
ground  east  of  the  line  of  bluffs.  It  is  difficult  to 
describe  the  operations  of  the  next  three  months,  for 
it  was  a  warfare  with  nature,  in  which  the  enemy 
played  little  part.  Several  lines  of  approach  were 
carried  on  at  the  same  time  by  different  parts  of 
the  command.  First,  it  was  decided  to  finish 
Williams'  canal,  across  the  neck  of  laud  west  of 
Vicksburg,  so  that  the  fleet  could  pass  below  the 
batteries.  But  when  the  river  rose  with  the  spring 
rains,  it  flooded  not  only  the  canal,  but  all  the  low 
ground  surrounding  it,  driving  the  soldiers  for  pro 
tection  to  the  levee.  In  addition,  it  was  soon  evi 
dent  that  the  southern  end  of  the  canal  would  be 
commanded  by  the  Confederate  guns  at  Warrenton, 
— so  this  plan  was  abandoned. 


168  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

A  second  project  was  also  attempted  on  the  west 
bank  of  the  river,  to  unite  Lake  Providence,  seventy 
miles  above  Vicksburg,  with  a  series  of  bayous, 
leading  eventually  into  the  Bed  Eiver,  one  hundred 
miles  below,  so  as  to  make  an  involved  route  of  four 
hundred  miles,  whereby  supplies  might  be  carried 
by  boat  to  an  army  operating  below  Vicksburg. 
This  plan  necessitated  cutting  a  channel  through 
swamps,  digging  up  stumps  and  breaking  levees, 
and  was  so  complicated  that  eventually  it  was 
abandoned  as  impracticable. 

Meanwhile,  on  the  east  side  of  the  Mississippi,  an 
equally  difficult  experiment  was  attempted.  Below 
Helena,  the  Cold  water  Eiver,  one  of  the  branches  of 
the  Yazoo,  came  within  a  few  miles  of  the  Missis 
sippi,  and  if  a  connection  could  be  established,  the 
gunboats  could  get  into  the  Yazoo,  and  land  an 
army  on  the  high  ground  above  Haines7  Bluff.  To 
this  end,  the  levee  at  Yazoo  Pass  was  broken,  and 
eventually  the  gunboats  came  down  the  Coldwater 
to  the  Tallahatchie,  but  near  where  the  latter  stream 
unites  with  the  Yallabusha  to  form  the  Yazoo,  the 
Confederates  had  constructed  a  strong  earthwork, 
Fort  Pemberton,  impregnable  against  gunboat  at 
tack,  and  too  well  surrounded  by  water  to  permit 
of  an  assault.  So  the  Yazoo  Pass  expedition  re 
turned. 

The  last  attempt  from  the  North  was  developed  in 
March,  when  Porter  and  Sherman  went  up  Steele's 
Bayou  north  of  Milliken's  Bend,  intent  on  finding  a 
channel  to  the  Big  Sunflower  Eiver,  which  empties 


VICKSBUEG  169 

into  the  Yazoo,  below  Fort  Pemberton  but  above 
Haiues'  Bluff,  thus  affording  an  opportunity  to 
pierce  the  line  of  bluffs  without  a  direct  assault. 
But  the  vigilant  foe  blocked  the  narrow  channel, 
and  the  gunboats,  unable  to  turn  around,  were 
obliged  to  back  out  of  the  bayou,  with  rudders  un 
shipped. 

These  successive  failures  were  very  dispiriting  to 
the  North.  It  was  the  dark  period  after  the  bloody 
repulse  at  Fredericksburg,  and  there  was  little  good 
news  from  the  front.  It  was  the  time  when  Halleck 
sent  to  his  three  leading  generals  in  the  front  the 
message  that  there  was  a  vacant  major-generalship 
in  the  regular  army  which  he  would  give  to  the  first 
one  to  win  a  decisive  victory.  Moreover,  the  war 
correspondents  with  the  army  could  not  understand 
the  strategy  of  the  campaign,  and  some  wrote  home 
dispatches  which  were  neither  just  nor  intelligent. 
One  noted  newspaper  man,  trying  to  forward  Mc- 
Clernand's  ambitions,  wrote  to  Secretary  Chase, — 
"  Our  noble  army  of  the  Mississippi  is  being  wasted 
by  the  foolish,  drunken,  stupid  Grant.  He  can't 
organize  or  control  or  fight  an  army.  I  have  no 
personal  feeling  about  it,  but  I  know  he  is  an  ass." 
It  was  at  this  time  that  Lincoln  answered  those  who 
accused  Grant  of  intemperance  with  the  famous  re 
tort, — "If  I  knew  what  brand  of  whiskey  he 
drinks,  I  would  send  a  barrel  to  some  other  gen 
erals."  Because  of  these  doubts  and  suspicions, 
Stanton  sent  Charles  A.  Dana,  then  a  special  agent 
of  the  War  Department,  to  the  army  before  Vicks- 


170  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

burg,  so  that  the  government  might  receive  trust, 
worthy  accounts  of  its  real  movements. 

Too  much  publicity  is  no  aid  to  generalship,  and 
the  American  people  have  had  frequent  illustrations 
of  this  truth.  Thus,  once  a  correspondent  was  wel 
comed  in  a  gunboat,  and  shown  every  courtesy  in 
examining  its  defenses  j  later,  in  his  article,  he  de 
scribed  the  best  methods  of  attacking  and  sinking 
the  boat !  Again,  Grant  ordered  a  special  battery 
to  be  planted  near  Vicksburg,  his  men  working  at 
night  to  preserve  secrecy.  Two  days  before  the 
guns  were  to  be  used,  a  Confederate  officer,  meeting 
Sherman  under  a  flag  of  truce,  laughingly  referred 
to  this  battery,  and  it  was  found  that  the  whole  story 
had  been  published  in  a  Memphis  newspaper  several 
days  before.  Of  course,  whatever  appeared  in  the 
Northern  press  was  soon  forwarded  to  the  South, 
and  the  result  was  discouraging.  Sherman's  com 
ment  is  interesting.  "  All  persons  who  don't  have 
to  fight  must  be  kept  out  of  camp,  else  secrecy 
.  .  .  is  an  impossibility." 

Despite  the  clamors  and  the  failures,  Grant  was 
formulating  a  new  plan,  so  daring  in  conception 
that  even  his  chosen  confidant,  Sherman,  protested. 
He  had  determined  to  have  the  gunboats  run  past 
the  Confederate  batteries,  escorting  sufficient  sup 
plies  for  a  short  campaign  ;  then  he  would  lead  his 
army  below  Vicksburg  on  the  west  side,  cross  the 
river  and  penetrate  into  the  interior,  in  the  midst  of 
his  opponents.  Sherman  felt  that  this  plan  was  im 
possible, — it  imperiled  communications,  and  an 


VICKSBUEG  171 

army  cut  off  from  its  base  of  supplies  might  be 
forced  to  surrender.  The  proper  plan  would  have 
been  to  return  to  Memphis,  and  to  come  down  the 
line  of  the  railroad,  as  Grant  had  first  attempted. 
But  Grant  clearly  recognized  that  public  opinion 
would  style  such  a  movement  as  a  retreat,  and  in 
the  then  discouraged  condition  of  sentiment,  any 
reverse  might  be  disastrous  to  the  cause. 

With  the  zealous  cooperation  of  Porter,  some  of 
the  gunboats,  together  with  transports,  passed  the 
batteries  on  the  night  of  April  16th.  At  the  same 
time,  McClernand's  and  McPherson's  corps  were  or 
dered  to  New  Carthage,  and  eventually  to  Perkins' 
Plantation,  and  Hard  Times,  opposite  Grand  Gulf, 
below  Yicksburg  on  the  west  side.  To  prevent  the 
concentration  of  Confederates  in  Grant's  front,  Sher 
man  was  ordered  to  make  a  feint  at  Haines'  Bluff, 
north  of  the  city.  Grant  planned  this  feint  with 
genuine  reluctance,  fearing  lest  the  correspondents 
would  report  that  Sherman  was  again  defeated,  but 
that  fiery  soldier  told  him  to  make  his  own  plans 
' i  and  let  the  people  mind  their  own  business. "  At 
the  same  time,  a  cavalry  raid  was  organized  by 
Hurlburt,  which  was  one  of  the  most  successful  op 
erations  of  the  war.  General  B.  H.  Grierson,  with 
1,700  men,  started  from  La  Grange  on  April  17th, 
and  destroying  railroads  and  telegraph  wires,  burn 
ing  factories,  stores  and  bridges,  he  brought  his  men 
to  Baton  Eouge  on  May  2d,  having  spread  confusion 
and  dismay  throughout  the  entire  state  of  Missis 
sippi.  It  was  unfortunate  for  Pemberton  that  the 


172  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

cavalry  of  his  department  was  then  with  Bragg, 
and  Van  Dorn  having  been  killed,  he  was  without 
proper  information  as  to  the  movements  of  the 
enemy. 

Grant's  plan  was  carried  out  with  complete  suc 
cess  in  every  detail.  Sherman  manipulated  ten 
regiments  before  Haines'  Bluff  with  so  much  adroit 
ness  that  Pemberton  concentrated  to  oppose  what  he 
was  certain  was  the  main  attack.  Meanwhile,  Grant, 
having  brought  his  main  army  to  Hard  Times,  op 
posite  Grand  Gulf,  twenty-five  miles  below  Vicks- 
burg,  although  seventy  miles  by  the  river,  ordered 
the  gunboats  to  attack  Grand  Gulf,  hoping  to  force 
a  surrender  which  would  give  him  a  landing  on  the 
east  side.  On  April  29th  Porter  opened  a  vigor 
ous  attack  on  the  batteries  at  Grand  Gulf,  but  after 
several  hours  it  was  apparent  that  the  gunboats 
could  not  silence  works  at  an  elevation  of  two  hun 
dred  feet.  Blocked,  but  not  dismayed,  Grant,  who 
had  10,000  men  on  transports  during  the  attack, 
ready  to  cross  at  the  first  favorable  moment,  disem 
barked  his  men  and  marched  them  across  a  narrow 
peninsula  to  the  south.  Here  an  intelligent  negro 
was  found,  who  told  him  that  from  Bruinsberg,  six 
miles  below  Grand  Gulf  on  the  east  side,  there  was 
a  good  road  to  Port  Gibson,  twelve  miles  away,  the 
terminus  of  the  railroad  from  Grand  Gulf.  On 
April  30th  he  hurried  the  Thirteenth  Corps  across 
the  great  river,  and  found  Bruinsberg  unoccupied. 
With  three  days'  rations,  the  men  were  started  at 
once  on  the  road  to  Port  Gibson,  and  reached  in 


VICKSBUEG  173 

safety  the  high  ground.  It  was  an  hour  after  mid 
night  before  McClernand  found  the  enemy,  posted 
four  miles  west  of  Port  Gibson,  and  consisting  of 
8,000  men,  under  General  Bo  wen,  withdrawn  from 
the  garrison  of  Grand  Gulf. 

On  May  1st  was  fought  the  first  battle  of  the 
campaign,  when  Grant,  with  McClernand' s  Corps, 
and  part  of  McPherson's,  attacked  the  Confederate 
lines  at  Port  Gibson,  and  having  an  overwhelming 
superiority  in  numbers,  forced  a  speedy  retreat. 
Bowen  retreated  to  Grand  Gulf,  and  then  fearing 
complete  investment,  abandoned  his  post,  crossed 
the  Big  Black  Eiver,  and  fled  north  toward  Vicks- 
burg.  On  May  3d  the  gunboats  took  possession  of 
Grand  Gulf,  and  Grant,  with  an  escort  of  twenty 
men,  rode  into  the  town  and  resumed  communica 
tions  with  the  rest  of  his  forces.  He  had  success 
fully  planted  his  army  on  the  high  ground  east  of 
the  river,  and  had  thus  circumvented  nature's  ob 
stacles. 

During  the  next  few  days  he  displayed  a  vigor  and 
a  command  of  the  situation  that  were  remarkable. 
The  rest  of  the  Seventeenth  Corps  was  brought 
over  the  Mississippi  ;  Sherman  was  ordered  to  aban 
don  his  attack  on  Haines'  Bluff,  which  had  served 
its  purpose,  and  to  bring  his  men  down  the  river  ; 
ammunition  wagons  were  fitted  up,  and  supplies 
distributed.  Grant  had  now  reached  the  critical 
point  of  the  campaign.  Until  this  time  he  had  in 
tended  to  take  Grand  Gulf  for  a  base  of  supplies, 
and  then  to  send  a  corps  south  to  aid  Banks  in  taking 


174  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

Port  Hudson.  Then  with  these  combined  forces 
he  could  make  an  overwhelming  attack  upon  Vicks- 
burg.  But  he  received  word  from  Banks  that  his 
forces  would  not  be  ready  to  attack  Port  Hudson 
before  May  10th,  and  that  he  had  only  15,000  men. 
To  wait  a  week  would  give  Pemberton  ample  op 
portunity  to  recover  from  the  surprise,  and  Grant 
at  once  decided  to  push  into  the  interior  with  his 
three  corps,  sever  all  communication  with  the  fleet, 
and  live  off  of  the  country.  By  May  7th  his  army 
was  concentrated  on  the  east  side  of  the  river,  and 
with  45,000  men  he  started  his  march  into  the  in 
terior. 

With  his  left  wing  near  the  Big  Black  Eiver, 
Grant  aimed  his  army  toward  the  railroad  from 
Vicksburg  to  Jackson.  After  five  days  of  march 
ing,  McPherson,  who  was  then  on  the  right,  found 
a  Confederate  division  at  Eaymond.  After  a  brisk 
battle,  the  Confederates  fled  toward  Jackson,  about 
eighteen  miles  to  the  northwest.  Instantly  Grant 
recognized  his  opportunity.  If  part  of  his  foes  re 
tired  toward  Vicksburg,  and  another  part  toward 
Jackson,  there  was  an  opportunity  for  him  to  place 
his  army  in  between,  and  fight  them  separately. 
Meanwhile  Johnston  had  arrived  at  Jackson,  arid 
when  the  discouraging  news  of  Grant's  progress  was 
given  to  him,  he  at  once  wired  to  Eichmond,  "  I  am 
too  late."  Pemberton,  with  approximately  40,000 
men,  was  holding  the  line  of  the  Big  Black  and 
Vicksburg,  and  Johnston  had  about  12,000  men  at 
Jackson,  but  Grant,  with  45,000,  was  in  between, 


VICKSBURG  175 

and  prepared  to  push  his  advantage  to  the  utmost. 
On  May  14th,  McPherson  attacked  Jackson,  and 
Johnston's  weak  divisions  were  overwhelmed. 
That  night  the  Union  forces  were  in  possession  of 
the  capital  of  Mississippi,  and  Grant  slept  in  the 
same  house  which  Johnston  had  occupied  the  night 
before.  Leaving  Sherman  to  destroy  the  bridges, 
railroads  and  factories  around  Jackson,  Grant  hur 
ried  McPherson  to  the  west  to  join  McClernand  in 
a  search  for  Pemberton. 

In  his  hasty  retreat  from  Jackson,  Johnston 
ordered  Pemberton  to  abandon  Vicksburg,  and  to 
bring  his  army  North  for  a  junction,  so  that  their 
united  forces  might  face  Grant.  But  Pemberton, 
full  of  the  importance  of  Vicksburg,  instead  marched 
south,  intent  upon  cutting  Grant's  line  of  communi 
cations.  He  could  not  accomplish  this,  for  Grant's 
men  were  subsisting  from  the  country,  but  he  lost 
valuable  time,  and  when  he  finally  turned  north, 
Grant  was  ready  for  him.  The  decisive  battle  of 
the  campaign  was  fought  at  Champion's  Hill,  where 
the  railroad  crosses  Baker's  Creek,  about  twenty 
miles  west  of  Jackson.  Here  Pemberton  took  a 
strong  position  with  25,000  men,  the  rest  of  his 
forces  holding  the  Vicksburg  line.  Without  wait 
ing  for  Sherman,  who  had  been  ordered  up  from 
Jackson,  Grant  determined  to  attack  on  May  16th, 
with  only  McPherson' s  and  McClernand' s  Corps. 

The  Battle  of  Champion's  Hill  was  fought  with 
nearly  equal  forces.  On  the  right,  Grant  took  per 
sonal  charge  of  the  divisions  of  Hovey,  Logan  and 


176  ULYSSES  S.  GBAOT 

Crocker,  and  after  hard  fighting,  succeeded  in  turn 
ing  the  enemy's  position,  and  even  for  a  time  con 
trolled  their  line  of  retreat.  On  the  left,  McClernand 
was  slow  in  getting  his  men  into  the  battle,  and  as  a 
result,  while  Pember ton's  army  was  routed,  it  was 
not  destroyed.  Retreating  in  wild  haste,  leaving 
2,500  prisoners  and  twenty-four  pieces  of  artillery, 
Pemberton  fled  to  the  Big  Black  Eiver,  where  he 
had  extensive  fortifications.  One  of  his  strongest 
divisions,  under  Loring,  became  separated  from  the 
main  body,  and  fled  to  the  south.  Eventually,  after 
a  wide  detour,  it  united  with  Johnston's  forces,  and 
so  escaped  capture. 

Meanwhile  Grant,  with  his  army  reunited,  pushed 
on  to  the  Big  Black,  where  Pemberton  had  brought 
up  reinforcements  from  Vicksburg.  There  was 
scarcely  a  battle,  for  Pemberton 's  men  were 
demoralized,  and  were  fighting  with  a  river  in  their 
rear.  When,  on  May  17th,  they  saw  the  prepara 
tions  for  outflanking  their  position,  the  Confederates 
fled,  and  Grant  drove  them  across  the  river,  with  a 
loss  of  1,700  prisoners.  The  crossing  of  the  Big 
Black  caused  but  a  few  hours'  delay.  Pemberton 
was  in  no  condition  to  resist,  and  calling  in  his  out 
lying  garrisons,  determined  to  retreat  to  the  fortifi 
cations  of  Vicksburg.  Haines'  Bluff  was  abandoned, 
and  the  line  of  the  Yazoo  given  over  to  Federal  con 
trol.  On  the  afternoon  of  May  18th,  Grant  and 
Sherman  rode  out  on  the  Chick asaw  Bluffs,  where, 
less  than  five  months  before,  the  latter  had  suffered 
a  bloody  repulse.  i  *  This  is  a  campaign, ' '  exclaimed 


VICKSBUEG  177 

Sherman  enthusiastically.  "  Until  this  moment,  I 
never  thought  your  movement  a  success.  But  this 
is  a  success,  even  if  we  never  take  the  town." 

It  was  well-merited  praise.  Eighteen  days  had 
elapsed  since  Grant  had  landed  at  Bruinsberg.  In 
that  time  he  had  marched  over  two  hundred  miles, 
fought  and  won  five  pitched  battles,  taken  8,000 
prisoners  and  eighty -eight  cannon,  and  had  scat 
tered  a  foe  who  had  all  of  the  advantages  of  number, 
position,  supplies  and  knowledge  of  the  ground.  It 
was  the  best-conducted  campaign  of  the  war. 
Moreover,  the  credit  belonged  to  Grant  alone. 
Sherman  had  protested  against  the  plan.  Halleck 
had  ordered  him  to  go  down  to  Port  Hudson,— 
orders  which  fortunately  were  not  delivered  until 
after  the  opening  victories  had  brought  success 
within  grasp.  No  one  else  had  the  daring  to  com 
mend  the  bold  design  of  cutting  loose  from  com 
munications,  so  as  to  use  all  of  his  army  in  fighting 
the  foe.  In  many  ways  it  was  the  crowning  mo 
ment  of  Grant's  career. 

But  Vicksburg  had  not  yet  surrendered.  By  May 
18th  Pemberton  had  all  of  his  forces  within  its  for 
tifications,  and  although  demoralized  by  successive 
defeats,  he  had  still  more  than  30,000  men,  mostly 
veterans,  who  knew  the  advantages  of  their  position. 
During  the  night  the  Union  forces  took  positions 
outside  the  city, — Sherman  on  the  north,  McClernand 
on  the  south  and  McPherson  in  the  centre.  The 
line  was  too  long  for  Grant's  army,  and  there  was  a 
gap  of  four  miles  between  McClernand  and  the 


178  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

river,  through  which  Pemberton  might  have  at 
tempted  an  escape  if  his  men  had  been  equal  to  the 
effort.  On  the  afternoon  of  May  19th,  Grant 
ordered  an  assault,  in  which  Sherman's  men  ad 
vanced  to  the  ditch  outside  the  fortifications,  but 
little  was  accomplished  except  to  disclose  the 
strength  of  a  position  which  bristled  with  batteries 
and  fortified  works. 

After  three  days'  quiet,  Grant  determined  to  try 
another  assault.  His  men  were  confident,  the  foe 
were  dispirited,  and  he  felt  that  his  soldiers  would 
not  willingly  submit  to  the  slow  and  laborious  re 
quirements  of  a  siege,  when  they  felt  that  an  in 
stant  victory  was  possible.  Moreover,  Johnston 
was  now  gathering  an  army  to  relieve  Vicksburg, 
and  it  was  a  question  how  serious  this  effort  might 
be.  On  May  22d,  therefore,  the  assault  was  ordered 
all  along  the  line.  In  spite  of  the  vigor  and  bravery 
of  the  assailants,  the  result  was  a  complete  defeat. 
The  Union  soldiers  would  run  to  the  ditch  and,  in 
some  cases,  succeeded  in  planting  their  flags  on  the 
parapets,  but  the  fire  of  the  enemy,  most  of  whom 
fought  from  complete  cover,  simply  annihilated  the 
attacking  columns.  After  the  first  reverse,  Grant, 
who  was  on  the  right  and  centre  of  his  line,  received 
word  from  McClernand  that  he  had  taken  parts  of 
two  forts,  and  requesting  that  a  vigorous  attack  be 
maintained  so  as  to  prevent  the  enemy  from  massing 
in  front  of  his  position.  For  this  reason  a  second 
assault  was  ordered  in  the  early  afternoon,  and  with 
exactly  the  same  result.  Vicksburg  could  not  be 


VICKSBUEG  179 

taken  by  an  assault,  and  Grant  was  much  disap 
pointed  to  learn  that  McClernand' s  over-sanguine 
temperament  had  misled  him  in  the  report  which 
caused  the  second  charge. 

After  the  second  assault,  the  army  settled  down 
to  the  slow  processes  of  a  siege.  As  the  tidings  of 
the  successful  campaign  reached  home,  every  effort 
was  made  to  hurry  reinforcements  to  the  front.  It 
was  thoroughly  appreciated  that  Johnston  would  be 
reinforced,  so  as  to  give  him  a  relieving  army, 
and  Halleck  ordered  Banks,  Schofield,  Kosecrans 
and  Burnside  to  send  all  extra  soldiers  to  Grant. 
Banks  was  now  besieging  Port  Hudson,  and  Bose- 
crans  had  started  on  his  campaign  for  Chattanooga, 
but  Burnside  and  Schofield  responded  willingly,  and 
by  the  middle  of  June  Grant  had  over  70,000  men. 
His  first  reinforcements  were  used  to  complete  the 
line  of  investment,  and,  as  others  arrived,  they  were 
hurried  to  Haines'  Bluff  and  the  line  of  the  Big 
Black,  where  under  Sherman's  immediate  direction 
they  formed  a  protecting  army,  ready  for  Johnston's 
advance.  But  with  all  his  efforts,  Johnston  could 
only  collect  25,000  men,  and  while  he  made  many 
cautious  moves  in  the  direction  of  Yicksburg,  the 
Union  forces  were  too  strong  to  justify  a  successful 
attack. 

Meanwhile,  Grant  had  relieved  McClernand  from 
command,  and  Ord  had  taken  his  place.  This  ac 
tion  precipitated  a  long  and  acute  controversy.  In 
the  earlier  campaigns  of  Fort  Donelson  and  Shiloh 
McClernand  had  won  the  reputation  of  a  good 


180  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

fighter  and  had  been  highly  praised  by  Grant.  But 
when  the  Mississippi  expedition  was  started,  he  had 
expected  the  command,  and  his  disappointment  re 
sulted  in  insubordination.  Grant  was  slow  in  reach 
ing  a  decision  against  his  senior  general.  He  knew 
that  McClernand  had  recommended  to  Stanton  to 

appoint  his  ancient  enemy,  Captain  K ,  who  had 

preferred  charges  against  him  at  Cairo,  in  charge  of 
the  river  transportation.  He  knew  that  when  in 
January  he  had  assumed  personal  charge  of  the 
army,  that  McClernand  had  bitterly  protested  to 
Stanton.  But  it  was  during  the  campaign  that  Mc- 
Clernand's  actions  finally  convinced  his  chief  that 
there  was  an  unpleasant  duty  to  be  performed. 
Thus,  in  crossing  the  Mississippi,  McClernand  de 
layed  at  a  critical  time,  which  might  have  involved 
the  whole  campaign.  Again,  at  Champion's  Hill, 
he  was  slow  in  coming  to  the  attack.  When  the 
siege  had  commenced,  he  did  not  push  the  lines  of 
investment  with  anything  like  the  vigor  of  the 
others.  Indeed,  Dana  reported  to  Stauton  : — "My 
own  judgment  is  that  McCleruand  has  not  the  quali 
fications  necessary  for  a  good  commander  even  of  a 
regiment/'  Stanton  replied  that  Grant  had  full 
authority  to  command  his  army,  and  would  be  held 
accountable  for  the  use  of  that  power. 

The  climax  came  when,  after  the  assault  on  May 
22d,  McClernand  published  a  congratulatory  order 
to  his  soldiers,  in  which  he  extolled  their  prowess 
in  bombastic  language,  and  referred  slightingly  to 
the  achievements  of  the  other  corps.  The  order  was 


VICKSBUEG  181 

published  iu  a  St.  Louis  newspaper,  and  thus  was 
brought  to  the  attention  of  Sherman  and  McPherson, 
who  instantly  complained  to  Grant.  This  matter 
was  too  serious  to  be  ignored,  and  Grant  had  good 
reason  to  believe  that  any  accident  to  himself  would 
place  at  the  head  of  his  army  one  in  whom  none  of 
the  other  generals  had  confidence.  As  a  result, 
McClernand  was  ordered  back  to  Cairo,  and  thence 
forth  disappears  from  the  story  of  Grant's  career. 

It  was  fortunate  for  Grant  that,  during  the  excit 
ing  weeks  of  the  campaign  and  the  patient  endur 
ance  of  the  siege,  he  had  Dana  at  his  side  as  the  di 
rect  representative  of  the  War  Department.  Grant 
was  never  fond  of  writing  long  dispatches  describing 
his  work,  but  Dana  relieved  him  of  this  task  in 
large  measure  ;  and  by  his  discriminating  praise 
and  sympathetic  insight,  he  gave  Lincoln  and  Stau- 
ton  their  first  clear  conception  of  their  Western  com 
mander.  Dana  was  much  impressed  with  the  hearty 
friendship  and  cooperation  which  existed  between 
Grant,  Sherman  and  McPherson — three  sons  of 
Ohio,  who  had  scarcely  known  each  other  before  the 
war,  whose  patriotic  support  of  each  other's  plans 
was  in  pleasing  contrast  with  the  jealousies  of  some 
of  the  Eastern  armies. 

During  the  prosecution  of  the  siege  the  life  at  the 
headquarters  was  interesting  and  pleasant.  Con 
fident  of  eventual  success  and  with  increasing 
resources,  Grant  could  afford  to  take  a  little  enjoy 
ment  in  life.  His  oldest  son,  Fred,  then  a  boy  of 
thirteen,  had  been  with  him  since  the  battle  of  Port 


182  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

Gibson  and  was  a  deserved  favorite  at  the  head 
quarters.  Some  of  the  members  of  his  staff,  who 
had  been  appointed  from  motives  of  personal  friend 
ship,  were  of  little  use,  but  every  visitor  to  the  camp 
was  impressed  with  the  loyalty  and  devotion  of 
Eawlins  and  the  zeal  with  which  he  watched  over  the 
interests  of  his  chief.  Grant  had  issued  orders  that 
no  beer  or  ale  should  be  sold  within  sixty  miles  of  the 
camp.  By  the  advice  of  his  surgeons,  this  order 
was  relaxed  in  favor  of  the  men  who  were  digging 
saps  and  traverses,  to  whom,  in  the  heated  weather 
of  June,  iced  ale  was  served  in  the  trenches.  There 
were  many  visitors  from  the  North  curious  to  see 
the  operations  of  a  siege  at  close  range,  and  some 
times  wine  was  smuggled  through  the  lines  for  their 
entertainment.  Eawlins  found  some  of  this  wine 
near  Grant's  headquarters,  and  at  once  had  the 
officer  who  brought  it  transferred  to  another  branch 
of  the  service.  The  letter  which  he  wrote  Grant  at 
this  time  is  one  of  the  most  impressive  contributions 
to  the  personal  literature  of  the  war,  and  is  affecting 
testimony  to  the  loyalty  of  the  writer  and  the  friend 
ship  of  the  recipient.1  There  is  overwhelming  evi- 

1  General  Eawlins  to  General  Grant 

Before  Vicksburg,  Miss.,  June  6,  1863. 

1  o'clock  A.  M. 
DEAR  GENERAL  :— 

The  great  solicitude  I  feel  for  the  safety  of  this  army  leads 
me  to  mention  what  I  hoped  never  again  to  do — the  subject  of 
your  drinking.  This  may  surprise  you,  for  I  may  be  (and  I 
trust  I  am)  doing  you  an  injustice  by  unfounded  suspicions  ; 
but  if  an  error,  it  better  be  on  the  side  of  this  country's  safety 
than  in  fear  of  offending  a  friend.  I  am  told  that  Dr. 
McMillan,  at  General  Shennau's  a  few  days  ago,  induced  yon, 


VICKSBUEG  183 

dence  that  Kawlins's  suspicion,  as  expressed  in  this 
letter,  was  unfounded,  but  the  strength  and  beauty 
of  the  friendship  which  could  stand  such  a  strain  is 
most  admirable. 
Through  June,  the  investment  of  Vicksburg  was 

notwithstanding  your  pledge  to  me,  to  take  a  glass  of  wine,  and 
to-day,  when  I  found  a  box  of  wine  in  front  of  your  tent  and 
proposed  to  move  it,  which  I  did,  I  was  told  you  had  forbid  it 
being  taken  away,  for  you  intended  to  keep  it  until  you  entered 
Vicksburg,  that  you  might  have  it  for  your  friends  ;  and  to 
night,  when  you  should,  because  of  the  condition  of  your 
health  if  nothing  else,  have  been  in  bed,  I  find  you  where  the 
wine  bottle  has  just  been  emptied,  in  company  with  those  who 
drink  and  urge  you  to  do  likewise,  and  the  lack  of  your  usual 
promptness  of  decision  and  clearness  in  expressing  yourself  in 
writing  tended  to  confirm  my  suspicions. 

You  have  full  control  of  your  appetite  and  can  let  drinking 
alone.  Had  you  not  pledged  me  the  sincerity  of  your  honor 
early  in  March  that  you  would  drink  no  more  during  the  war, 
and  kept  that  pledge  during  your  recent  campaign,  you  would 
not  to-day  have  stood  first  in  the  world's  history  as  a  successful 
military  leader.  Your  only  salvation  depends  upon  your  strict 
adherence  to  that  pledge.  You  cannot  succeed  in  any  other 
way.  As  I  have  before  stated,  I  may  be  wrong  in  my  suspicions, 
but  if  one  sees  that  which  leads  him  to  suppose  a  sentinel  is  fall 
ing  asleep  on  his  post,  it  is  his  duty  to  arouse  him  ;  and  if  one 
sees  that  which  leads  him  to  fear  the  General  commanding  a 
great  army  is  being  seduced  to  that  step  which  he  knows  will 
bring  disgrace  upon  that  General  and  defeat  to  his  command,  if 
he  fails  to  sound  the  proper  note  of  warning,  the  friends,  wives 
and  children  of  those  brave  men  whose  lives  he  permits  to  re 
main  thus  imperiled  will  accuse  him  while  he  lives,  and  stand 
swift-  witnesses  of  wrath  against  him  in  the  day  when  all  shall 
be  tried.  If  my  suspicions  are  unfounded,  let  my  friendship 
for  you  and  my  zeal  for  my  country  be  my  excuse  for  this  let 
ter;  and  if  they  are  correctly  founded,  and  you  determine  not  to 
heed  the  admonitions  and  the  prayers  of  this  hasty  note  by  im 
mediately  ceasing  to  touch  a  single  drop  of  any  kind  of  liquor, 
no  matter  by  whom  asked,  or  under  what  circumstances,  let 
my  immediate  relief  from  duty  in  this  department  be  the  result. 
I  am,  General,  your  friend, 

JOHN  A.  KAWLINS. 


181  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

complete.  The  guuboats  blocked  all  supplies  from 
the  river  and  the  army  closed  every  channel  of  com 
munication  by  land.  On  June  7th  a  diversion  was 
attempted  from  Arkansas,  when  a  division  of  Con 
federates  attacked  Milliken's  Bend  which  was  then 
defended  by  negro  troops,  the  first  to  be  enlisted  in 
the  West.  Their  gallant  and  successful  defense  of 
this  important  post  did  much  to  popularize  the  en 
listment  of  negroes  and  caused  a  rapid  change  in 
sentiment  toward  the  contraband  on  the  part  of 
those  who  had  previously  sneered  at  this  policy. 
Meanwhile,  Grant  had  placed  eighty-nine  batteries 
in  position  with  220  guns,  and  had  developed  ten 
lines  of  approach  to  within  a  few  yards  of  the 
enemy's  works.  So  close  were  the  soldiers  that  a 
curious  camaraderie  developed  between  the  Johnnies 
and  the  Yanks,  and  it  is  even  related  that  some  of 
the  sappers  exchanged  coffee  for  tobacco  and  shared 
iced  ale  with  their  enemy.  Grant  had  planned  an 
assault  for  July  6th,  and  there  could  be  little  doubt 
of  his  success  considering  the  advanced  condition  of 
his  lines. 

As  the  siege  progressed,  inside  Vicksburg  the 
conviction  was  growing  that  surrender  was  inevi 
table.  The  inhabitants  had  honeycombed  the  bluff 
with  caves  for  protection  against  the  shells.  Food 
was  scarce,  although  the  city  was  so  well -stored 
with  supplies  that  famine  could  have  been  averted 
for  several  weeks.  Flour  sold  at  ten  dollars  a  pound 
and  bacon  at  five  dollars,  and  even  mule-meat  was 
in  demand,  but  it  was  the  discouragement  of  the 


VICKSBURG  185 

soldiers  which  forced  the  surrender.  On  June  28th 
Pemberton  received  a  petition  signed  "  many 
soldiers,'7  which  stated,  "  Men  don't  want  to  starve 
and  don't  intend  to,  but  they  call  upon  you  for  jus 
tice.  ...  If  you  can't  feed  us,  you  had  better 
surrender  us,  horrible  as  the  idea  is,  than  suffer  this 
noble  army  to  disgrace  themselves  by  desertion." 
With  this  paper  before  him,  Pemberton  called  his 
division  commanders  in  council  and  asked  if  the 
troops  were  able  to  cut  themselves  a  way  through 
the  enemy's  lines.  The  opinion  of  the  subordinate 
commanders  was  almost  unanimous  against  this 
idea,  and  after  the  meeting  on  July  3d,  Pemberton 
sent  a  flag  of  truce  to  Grant  proposing  that  commis 
sioners  be  appointed  to  arrange  terms  of  capitula 
tion.  Grant  replied,  refusing  this  proposition  and 
stating  that  the  only  terms  were  unconditional  sur 
render,  but  adding  that  "  Men  who  have  shown  so 
much  endurance  and  courage  as  those  now  in  Vicks- 
burg  will  always  challenge  the  respect  of  an  adver 
sary  and  .  .  .  will  be  treated  with  all  the  re 
spect  due  prisoners  of  war. ' '  On  the  afternoon  of  the 
same  day  Grant  met  Pemberton  between  the  lines, 
and  after  a  few  minutes'  conference,  Pemberton 
haughtily  refused  unconditional  surrender  and  de 
manded  that  his  men  be  allowed  to  march  out  with 
their  arms  and  equipment.  The  conference  was  a 
failure,  but  Grant  promised  to  write  out  his  terms, 
and  later  forwarded  a  letter  to  Pemberton  offering 
to  parole  the  conquered  army.  After  some  further 
correspondence  the  terms  were  accepted.  At  ten 


186  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

o'clock  on  the  morning  of  that  Independence  Day, 
which  a  thousand  miles  away  found  Meade's  vic 
torious  army  facing  Lee's  defeated  forces  at  Gettys 
burg,  Logan's  division  entered  Vicksburg  and  the 
ragged  regiments  of  Pemberton,  stacking  their  arms, 
marched  out  from  the  stronghold  which  they  had  de 
fended  so  valiantly. 

One  episode  of  the  surrender  illustrates  Grant's 
habitual  magnanimity  to  a  defeated  foe.  Upon 
entering  Vicksburg,  he  went  with  his  staff  to  call 
on  Pemberton.  At  the  headquarters  he  was  re 
ceived  with  marked  rudeness,  and  upon  his  request 
ing  a  glass  of  water,  he  was  directed  to  the  rear  of 
the  house,  where  he  could  help  himself  from  the 
well.  The  next  day  Dana  wired  Stanton,  "  Grant 
entered  the  city  at  eleven  o'clock  and  was  received 
by  Pemberton  with  more  marked  impertinence  than 
at  their  former  interview.  He  bore  it  like  a 
philosopher  and  in  reply  treated  Pemberton  with 
even  greater  courtesy  and  dignity  than  before." 
After  all,  adversity  is  a  sterner  test  of  character 
than  success. 

With  the  taking  of  Vicksburg  there  were  sur 
rendered  about  31,000  men,  and  172  pieces  of  ar 
tillery.1  It  was  the  largest  force  of  armed  men  ever 
taken  in  the  history  of  the  war,  and  was  a  far 
stronger  army  than  Grant  had  anticipated.  He  had 
been  brought  to  propose  paroling  the  prisoners  by 
the  difficulty  of  conveying  to  the  North  so  large  a 

1  The  total  of  Union  losses  from  May  1st  to  July  4th  were  as 
follows:  Killed,  1,514;  wounded,  7,395;  missing,  453. 


VICKSBUEG  187 

number,  and  by  his  belief  that  most  of  them  were 
discouraged  with  fighting,  and  were  perfectly  will 
ing  again  to  become  peaceful  citizens  of  the  Union. 
Some  of  those  paroled  afterward  appeared  in  Bragg 's 
army  without  having  been  properly  exchanged,  and 
this  experience  made  Grant  a  strong  opponent  of 
any  exchanges  in  the  later  stages  of  the  war. 

While  the  surrender  was  taking  place,  Sherman, 
on  the  line  of  the  Big  Black,  was  watching  Johns 
ton's  cautious  advance.  As  soon  as  the  Federal 
soldiers  were  in  Vicksburg,  Grant  ordered  several 
divisions  to  join  Sherman,  so  as  to  give  the  latter 
48,000  men.  On  the  afternoon  of  July  4th,  Sher 
man  gave  the  order  to  march,  and  in  five  days  his 
men  were  again  outside  of  Jackson.  Johnston  had 
retreated  with  equal  celerity,  but  he  made  a  stand 
at  Jackson,  where  he  had  ample  forces  now  to  man 
the  fortifications.  Sherman  made  preparations  for 
a  siege,  but  Johnston,  who  had  not  sufficient  sup 
plies,  on  July  16th  abandoned  Jackson  for  the  sec 
ond  time,  and  fled  to  the  East.  Under  Grant's  or 
ders,  Sherman  destroyed  the  railroads  around 
Jackson,  and  then  returned  to  Vicksburg. 

The  last  Confederate  stronghold  on  the  Mississippi 
was  Port  Hudson,  which  was  held  by  General  Frank 
Gardner  with  6,000  men.  After  Grant's  successful 
campaign  around  Jackson,  Johnston  ordered  Gard 
ner  to  bring  his  forces  north,  but  before  this  order 
could  be  obeyed,  Banks  arrived  with  about  25,000 
men,  and  started  a  siege,  which  had  many  of  the 
characteristics  of  that  of  Vicksburg.  When  Pern- 


188  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

berton  surrendered,  Grant  at  once  sent  word  to 
Banks,  offering  overwhelming  reinforcements,  but 
this  letter  was  forwarded  to  Gardner,  who,  recog 
nizing  the  hopelessness  of  his  position,  agreed  to 
surrender  also.  On  July  9th  the  Confederate  flag 
was  replaced  with  that  of  the  Union,  and  thus  was 
justified  Lincoln's  picturesque  phrase  that  "the 
Mississippi  flows  un vexed  to  the  sea. "  One  week 
later,  the  first  commercial  vessel  from  St.  Louis 
docked  at  New  Orleans,  having  traversed  the  river 
without  the  sight  or  sound  of  a  foe. 

Such  was  the  conclusion  of  the  decisive  campaign 
of  the  West.  Hal  leek  wrote  to  the  victorious 
leader  :  "  In  boldness  of  plan,  rapidity  of  execution, 
and  brilliancy  of  routes,  these  operations  will  com 
pare  most  favorably  with  those  of  Napoleon  about 
Ulm.  You  and  your  army  have  well  deserved  the 
gratitude  of  your  country,  and  it  will  be  the  boast 
of  your  children  that  their  fathers  were  the  heroic 
army  which  reopened  the  Mississippi  River."  Lin 
coln  sent  Grant  a  personal  letter  of  congratulation, 
and  at  once  nominated  him  as  Major-General  in  the 
regular  army.  The  outburst  of  enthusiasm,  in 
creased  to  a  tremendous  volume  by  the  double  vic 
tories  at  Vicksburg  and  Gettysburg,  was  felt  in 
every  Northern  community,  and  Grant  was  now  a 
national  hero. 


CHAPTEE  IX 

CHATTANOOGA 

To  a  weaker  man,  the  capture  of  Vicksburg,  after 
the  long  toil  and  burdensome  responsibility  of  the 
eight  months7  campaign,  would  have  suggested  an 
opportunity  for  rest  and  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  a 
victory  which  had  electrified  the  whole  nation.  Not 
so  with  Grant.  The  white  flag  had  scarcely  ap 
peared  on  the  Vicksburg  lines  before  the  orders  were 
delivered  to  Sherman  which  started  him  on  the  sec 
ond  campaign  against  Jackson.  Long  before  Sher 
man  returned  victorious,  the  next  step  was  clear  to 
his  leader,  whose  plans  were  forming  for  an  expedi 
tion  against  Mobile,  the  largest  city  of  Alabama, 
and  the  leading  seaport  of  the  Gulf  coast.  If  the 
Army  of  the  Tennessee,  with  the  supreme  confidence 
in  its  leader  born  of  successive  victories,  could  have 
been  sent  against  Mobile,  it  would  have  been  resist 
less,  and  thus  a  sure  base  could  have  been  secured 
for  operation  in  the  rear  of  Bragg's  army,  which 
was  then  defending  the  northern  frontier  of  Ala 
bama. 

Instead  of  this  clear-cut  and  feasible  plan,  Halleck, 
under  the  pressure  of  political  necessity,  determined 
upon  the  dispersion  of  Grant's  army,  following  the 
policy  which  had  been  pursued  at  Corinth  with  such 


190  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

signal  lack  of  success.  The  Ninth  Corps  was  re 
turned  to  the  Army  of  the  Ohio,  to  be  led  by  Burn- 
side  into  east  Tennessee,  for  the  protection  of  the 
loyal  Unionists  of  the  mountains,  whose  relief  had 
long  been  one  of  Lincoln's  dearly  cherished  ambi 
tious.  Other  detachments  were  sent  to  the  rein 
forcement  of  Banks  in  Louisiana  and  Schofield  in 
Missouri.  The  Thirteenth  Corps  was  ordered  west 
of  the  Mississippi  to  cooperate  in  a  projected  inva 
sion  of  Texas,  where  a  victory  was  strongly  desired, 
in  order  to  counterbalance  the  preliminary  success 
of  the  French  invasion  of  Mexico.  As  a  result, 
Grant's  army  was  depleted  of  its  offensive  strength, 
and  his  men  were  needed  for  the  numerous  garri 
sons  of  his  department.  After  Johnston's  retreat, 
however,  there  was  little  aggressive  strength  left  in 
the  Confederacy  in  western  Mississippi,  and  many 
of  those  who  surrendered  at  Vicksburg  took  ad 
vantage  of  the  quiet  to  return  to  their  homes  and 
resume  peaceful  pursuits.  During  this  period  of 
calm,  Grant  made  a  visit  to  Cairo  and  Memphis, 
where  he  was  banqueted  by  a  host  of  admirers,  and 
then  later  he  went  down  to  New  Orleans  to  confer 
with  Banks  on  the  proposed  Western  expedition. 
While  attending  a  review  of  Banks's  army,  he  met 
with  the  most  serious  personal  injury  of  the  war. 
He  had  been  provided  with  a  spirited  steed,  which 
proved  too  much  even  for  his  experience.  Taking 
fright  at  a  steam  whistle,  the  horse  dashed  into  a 
carriage,  and  fell,  crushing  Grant's  leg  and  hip. 
From  the  effects  of  this  accident  he  was  kept  in  bed 


CHATTANOOGA  191 

for  three  weeks,  and  on  crutches  for  two  months, 
and  it  was  in  this  disabled  condition  that  he  entered 
on  his  next  campaign. 

Meanwhile,  a  crisis  had  arisen  in  the  Army  of 
the  Cumberland,  and  Grant  was  summoned  to  a 
larger  field  of  action.  During  the  spring  of  1863, 
Eosecrans  faced  Bragg  in  southern  Tennessee,  but 
there  was  little  aggression  on  either  side.  While 
Grant  was  besieging  Vicksburg,  Halleck  continually 
urged  Eosecrans  to  a  forward  movement,  but  the 
difficulty  of  carrying  supplies  over  the  railroad 
from  Nashville,  a  line  often  broken  by  Confederate 
raiders,  kept  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  quiet. 
Moreover,  Eosecraus  was  convinced  that  the  proper 
strategy  required  him  to  threaten  Bragg  without 
attacking,  pointing  out  that  an  advance  on  his  part 
would  probably  send  Bragg's  army  over  to  join 
Johnston,  and  so  force  the  relief  of  Vicksburg. 
But  in  the  closing  days  of  the  siege  Eosecrans  made 
ready  to  advance  from  his  quarters  at  Murfreesboro. 
Bragg's  army  was  before  him  in  fortified  lines 
at  Shelbyville  and  Tullahoma,  protecting  Chatta 
nooga,  on  the  south  bank  of  the  Tennessee  Eiver, 
which,  from  its  unique  location  among  the  mountains, 
was  the  key  to  that  region. 

On  June  24th  Eosecrans  started  his  campaign, 
and  so  skilfully  did  he  employ  his  superiority  in 
forces  that  Bragg's  lines  were  turned  without  a 
battle.  Continuing  his  well-planned  strategy, 
Eosecrans  crossed  the  Tennessee  west  of  Chatta 
nooga,  and  covering  his  movement  in  the  parallel 


192  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

mountain  ranges  south  of  the  river,  he  brought  two 
of  his  corps  around  to  the  south,  so  as  to  threaten 
Bragg's  communications.  The  Confederate  army  at 
once  retired  from  Chattanooga,  and  on  September 
9th  Crittenden  took  possession  of  the  much-desired 
goal.  Eosecrans's  success  led  to  over-confidence, 
and  he  now  scattered  his  men  in  pursuit  of  the 
enemy,  anticipating  a  victory  without  a  battle. 
But  meanwhile  the  entire  Confederacy  had  its  at 
tention  centred  on  a  campaign  which  threatened  the 
disruption  of  its  power.  Buckner  was  ordered 
down  from  Knoxville  to  reinforce  Bragg  ;  part  of 
Johnston's  army  was  hurried  to  him ;  and  taking 
advantage  of  the  quiet  after  the  Gettysburg  cam 
paign,  Lee  sent  Longstreet's  strong  corps  to  enable 
Bragg  to  overwhelm  his  foes.  For  several  days 
Eosecrans's  scattered  forces  were  exposed  to  attack 
in  detail,  but  presently  he  began  to  hear  rumors  of 
a  movement  against  him,  and  hastily  ordered  his 
corps  to  concentrate.  Barely  had  this  been  ac 
complished  when,  on  September  20th,  Bragg's 
augmented  army  burst  upon  him  at  Chickamauga 
Creek. 

The  two  days'  battle  which  followed  was  one  of 
the  deadliest  in  the  history  of  the  war.  Eosecraus 
was  in  position  about  fifteen  miles  south  of  Chatta 
nooga,  with  Missionary  Eidge  at  his  rear,  pierced 
by  certain  roads  which  were  essential  to  a  successful 
retreat.  He  placed  Thomas  on  his  left  to  cover 
these  roads,  and  McCook  on  the  right,  with  Crit 
tenden  in  the  centre.  Bragg's  army  attacked  all 


CHATTANOOGA  193 

along  the  line,  but  his  plan  was  to  throw  back 
Thomas's  corps,  so  as  to  cut  off  communication  with 
Chattanooga.  During  the  first  day  the  Confederates 
were  repulsed,  although  the  loss  on  both  sides  was 
very  great,  but  on  the  second  day,  in  shifting  rein 
forcements  to  Thomas,  a  fatal  gap  was  left  in 
McCook's  line,  through  which  Longstreet  poured 
eight  brigades  in  an  overwhelming  mass,  and  the 
right  wing  crumbled  to  pieces.  Eosecrans,  McCook 
and  Crittenden  were  swept  away  to  Chattanooga  in 
a  torrent  of  fugitives,  and  the  rout  seemed  complete. 
Meanwhile,  Thomas  held  his  men  in  position  for  six 
hours,  in  spite  of  the  assault  of  practically  the  whole 
of  Bragg's  army,  earning  here  the  well-deserved  title 
of  "the  Eock  of  Chickamauga."  When  nightfall 
came,  Thomas  withdrew  and  presently  the  survivors 
of  this  costly  battle  were  reunited  in  Chattanooga. 

Chickamauga  was  a  disastrous  result  of  a  campaign 
which  had  opened  so  brilliantly,  and  its  effect  was 
to  demoralize  the  Union  army.  Dana  was  one  of 
the  fugitives,  and  his  telegram  to  Stanton,  sent  be 
fore  he  knew  of  Thomas's  steadfast  defense,  opened  : 
"  Chickamauga  is  as  fatal  a  name  in  our  history  as 
Bull  Eun."  But  when  the  Army  of  the  Cumber 
land  was  reassembled  in  Chattanooga,  Bragg's  army 
was  the  least  of  the  enemies  which  they  needed  to 
fear.  Starvation  and  disorganization  were  close 
upon  Eosecrans's  discouraged  troops,  and  these  were 
foes  which  no  valor  could  repel.  The  supplies  for 
the  army  were  brought  by  rail  from  Nashville  to 
Bridgeport,  where  the  railroad  crosses  the  Tennessee 


194  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

River,  and  thence  runs  east  through  the  Lookout 
Valley  to  Chattanooga.  But  Bragg  took  position  on 
Missionary  Eidge  and  Lookout  Mountain,  in  a  vast 
semicircle  around  the  beleaguered  city,  and  by  his 
commanding  situation  cut  off  communications  by 
both  the  railroad  and  the  river.  This  left  open  for 
Eosecrans  but  a  single  wagon-road  to  Bridgeport, 
over  Waldron's  Eidge,  a  distance  of  sixty  miles, 
whereby  all  supplies  for  his  army  and  the  city  must 
be  brought.  Wheeler's  cavalry  soon  raided  this 
road,  and  the  rainy  weather  of  the  autumn  made  it 
almost  impassable.  The  soldiers  were  put  on  half- 
rations  and  more  than  10,000  horses  and  mules 
perished  on  the  road  and  in  the  city  from  lack  of 
forage,  so  that  the  artillery  could  scarcely  be  moved. 

Inside  Chattanooga,  the  condition  was  most 
serious.  Eosecraus,  always  a  favorite  with  his 
men,  seemed  stunned  by  his  defeat,  and  was  unable 
to  bring  himself  to  plan  the  next  step.  There  was 
general  discontent  with  the  commanders  who  had 
been  in  the  early  retreat  from  Chickamauga,  and  the 
confidence  of  the  private  soldiers  had  been  sorely 
shaken.  Once  a  sentry  shouted  out  to  his  general  to 
change  commanders,  or  they  would  be  defeated  again. 
Wild  stories  about  the  personal  conduct  of  some  of 
the  generals,  always  eagerly  circulated  after  a  de 
feat,  became  camp  gossip,  and  without  necessary 
supplies  and  with  no  confidence  for  the  future,  the 
army  was  losing  its  morale. 

Meanwhile,  prodigious  efforts  were  being  made  by 
the  Government  to  relieve  the  situation.  Stanton 


CHATTANOOGA  195 

suggested  a  detachment  from  the  Army  of  the  Poto 
mac  for  reinforcement,  and  the  Eleventh  and 
Twelfth  Corps,  numbering  20,000  men,  were  placed 
under  Hooker,  and  with  the  fine  cooperation  of  the 
railroads,  moved  through  Wheeling,  Cincinnati,  and 
Nashville  to  Stevenson,  a  distance  of  1,200  miles, 
in  eight  days.  Grant  was  ordered  to  send  all  the 
men  he  could  spare  from  Memphis,  and  at  once 
started  several  divisions  under  Sherman.  But  there 
was  considerable  doubt  as  to  whether  Kosecrans 
could  utilize  these  forces  to  advantage,  and  Dana's 
messages,  always  studied  with  considerable  care  at 
Washington,  were  full  of  the  need  of  some  new  ad 
ministrative  force.  Finally,  in  view  of  the  great 
emergencies,  Lincoln  decided  to  consolidate  the 
three  armies  of  the  Ohio,  Cumberland  and  Tennes 
see  into  the  Military  Division  of  the  Mississippi, 
and  to  place  Grant  in  supreme  control. 

On  October  10th,  Grant  received  a  message,  dated 
one  week  earlier,  to  report  at  Cairo  without  de 
lay.  Hastening  up  the  river,  he  received  further 
orders  to  proceed  to  Louisville.  While  traveling  by 
rail,  he  reached  Indianapolis  when  a  message  di 
rected  him  to  join  Stan  ton,  who  had  hurried  to  the 
West.  This  was  the  first  meeting  between  the  great 
War  Secretary  and  his  famous  general,  and  the 
crisis  forced  them  into  intimate  relations  at  once. 
Stanton  had  brought  with  him  the  orders  creating 
the  new  military  division,  and  they  were  delivered 
to  Grant  with  an  alternative,  either  to  retain  Eose- 
crans  in  command  of  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland, 


196  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

or  to  replace  him  with  Thomas.  Since  their  expe 
riences  at  Corinth,  Grant  had  regarded  Eosecraus  as 
of  uneven  ability,  and  so  he  accepted  the  latter 
alternative.  Proceeding  to  Louisville,  he  assumed 
charge  of  his  new  command,  and  at  the  same  time 
wired  to  Chattanooga  to  hold  out  at  all  hazards,  to 
which  Thomas  replied :  "  We  will  hold  the  town 
till  we  starve. "  At  Nashville,  on  the  way  south, 
Grant  first  met  Andrew  Johnson,  then  military 
governor  of  Tennessee,  so  that  the  three  great  actors 
in  the  Eeconstruction  controversy,— Grant,  Stauton 
and  Johnson,  were  now  in  close  cooperation  for  the 
common  cause.  Grant  was  still  suffering  from  his 
injured  hip,  and  during  the  hard  traveling  from 
Bridgeport  to  Chattanooga  he  was  carried  by  his 
escort  over  the  many  dangerous  places  in  the  road. 
The  first  and  most  urgent  problem  was  to  secure 
supplies.  Provisions  and  clothing  were  both  sadly 
needed,  and  must  be  procured  before  the  reinforce 
ments  could  be  brought  up.  General  William  F. 
Smith,  whose  initiative  in  operating  a  sawmill  to  make 
supplies  for  pontoon  bridges  had  attracted  Grant's 
attention,  proposed  a  plan  for  opening  a  short  line 
to  Bridgeport.  Hooker  was  ordered  to  cross  to  the 
south  side  of  the  Tennessee  and  march  eastward  to 
Wauhatchie,  on  the  west  slope  of  Lookout  Mountain. 
At  the  same  time  a  detachment  from  Chattanooga 
came  west  along  the  line  of  the  river,  and  crossed 
into  the  rear  of  Hooker's  line  of  march.  Four  thou 
sand  men  were  placed  directly  under  General  Smith, 
who  sent  1,800,  under  General  Hazen,  down  the 


CHATTANOOGA  197 

river  in  pontoon  boats,  while  Smith  with  the  re 
mainder  marched  down  the  north  bank  of  the  river 
to  Brown's  Ferry,  three  miles  below  Lookout  Moun 
tain.  Hazen  landed  on  the  same  point,  and  covered 
the  construction  of  a  pontoon  bridge,  which  was 
laid  in  five  hours.  Meanwhile,  Hooker  crossed  the 
valley,  and  capturing  some  outposts,  eventually 
connected  with  Smith  at  Brown's  Ferry.  The  re 
sult  of  these  manoeuvres  was  to  give  Grant  a  direct 
line  to  Bridgeport,  easily  protected  and  much  shorter 
than  the  old  wagon-road  over  Waldron's  Eidge. 
Provisions  from  Bridgeport  could  now  be  brought 
by  boat  to  Brown's  Ferry,  thence  over  one  of  the 
numerous  bends  in  the  Tennessee  by  wagon -road 
about  eight  miles  to  Chattanooga,  and  in  great 
quantities  supplies  of  all  kinds  poured  into  the  be 
leaguered  city.  *  Lou  gstreet  made  a  vigorous  effort  to 
uncover  this  route,  but  Hooker's  successful  defense 
of  Wauhatchie  made  the  new  u  cracker-line  "  secure. 
With  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland  again  ready 
for  offensive  work,  Grant  had  a  new  cause  of  anx 
iety  in  eastern  Tennessee.  When  Eosecrans  had 
opened  his  campaign  in  the  summer,  Burn  side  had 

1  There  has  been  an  extended  controversy  as  to  who  originated 
this  plan  for  the  relief  of  Chattanooga.  In  1900  a  board  of  officers, 
consisting  of  General  John  R.  Brooke,  Colonel  G.  L.  Gillespie 
and  Colonel  M.  V.  Sheridan,  was  appointed  by  the  Secretary  of 
War  to  ascertain  whether  the  inscription  on  a  monument  at 
tributing  the  plan  to  General  Rosecrans  was  correct.  After 
thorough  investigation,  the  board  reported  that  the  plan  was  de 
vised  by  General  Rosecrans,  and  its  execution  begun  by  General 
Thomas  before  Grant  arrived.  General  Smith  protested  vigor 
ously  against  this  finding. 


198  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

made  a  parallel  advance  to  Knoxville,  with  the 
Army  of  the  Ohio.  While  Bragg' s  army  was  facing 
Thomas  at  Chattanooga,  the  former,  confident  that 
starvation  would  soon  compel  his  opponent  either 
to  surrender  or  to  retreat,  sent  Longstreet,  with  15,  - 
000  men  and  Wheeler's  Cavalry,  into  east  Tennes 
see.  Later,  Buckuer's  division  was  ordered  to  join 
this  expedition.  Bragg  evidently  felt  his  position 
on  Missionary  Ridge  absolutely  secure,  and  so  de 
tached  the  strongest  corps  in  his  army,  with  the  con 
fident  belief  that  Burnside  could  be  overwhelmed, 
and  Longstreet  would  return,  before  a  battle  near 
Chattanooga  would  be  fought. 

Burnside  was  in  a  very  critical  position.  While 
he  was  in  a  country  with  a  population  thoroughly 
loyal,  yet  his  line  of  supplies  was  the  railroad  which 
ran  from  Nashville  to  Chattanooga,  and  then  ex 
tended  to  Knoxville.  If  he  were  to  exhaust  his 
ammunition,  or  be  defeated,  his  only  line  of  retreat 
was  north  through  the  mountains,  where  his  army 
could  be  easily  scattered  and  maybe  captured. 
Grant  instantly  recognized,  however,  that  he  could 
not  send  reinforcements  to  Buruside  until  he  had 
cleared  the  railroad  for  supplies,  and  so  he  deter 
mined  to  attack  Bragg  at  Chattanooga,  satisfied  that 
a  victory  here  would  give  relief  to  his  army  in  east 
Tennessee.  Until  Sherman  arrived,  however,  his 
force  was  not  complete,  and  never  was  his  patience 
more  needed  than  during  the  weeks  of  waiting,  when 
every  message  from  Lincoln  and  Stanton  urged  the 
need  of  Knoxville. 


CHATTANOOGA  199 

Sherman  had  started  from  Memphis  with  four 
divisions.  At  first  he  was  ordered  to  rebuild  the 
railroad  from  Memphis  east,  so  as  to  provide  a  new 
line  of  approach  to  Chattanooga.  But  as  the  need 
became  greater,  this  work  was  dropped,  and  Sher 
man  made  a  forced  march,  arriving  at  Bridgeport 
on  November  14th.  As  soon  as  his  trusted  lieuten 
ant  was  within  reach,  Grant  formed  his  plans  of 
battle,  his  determination  to  fight  being  urged  by  the 
tidings  from  Buruside. 

Chattanooga  is  the  centre  of  a  natural  amphi 
theatre  of  war,  and  has  been  called  by  many  critics 
the  only  great  field  of  battle,  in  which  all  of  the 
operations  can  be  observed  from  a  central  point. 
The  town  itself  is  on  the  south  side  of  a  loop 
of  the  river.  On  the  east  and  south  runs  Mis 
sionary  Eidge,  from  five  hundred  to  eight  hundred 
feet  high,  back  of  which  is  Chickamauga  Creek. 
On  the  west  is  Lookout  Mountain,  twenty-two 
hundred  feet  high,  extending  up  to  the  river  in  a 
sharp  ascent.  Bragg  held  the  north  end  of  Look 
out  Mountain  from  the  summit  to  the  river,  but  had 
the  larger  part  of  his  army  on  Missionary  Eidge, 
and  the  valley  of  the  Chattanooga,  between  the  two 
mountains.  Southeast  from  the  north  end  of  Mis 
sionary  Eidge  was  Chickamauga  Station,  on  the  rail 
road  to  Dalton,  where  Bragg  had  his  base  of  supplies. 

As  soon  as  Sherman  arrived,  Grant  formed  his 
plan  of  campaign.  While  Hooker  pressed  the 
enemy's  left  on  Lookout  Mountain,  and  Thomas 
threatened  his  main  line  on  Missionary  Eidge, 


200  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

Sherman  was  to  lead  his  men  past  Chattanooga,  and 
storm  the  north  end  of  Missionary  Eidge.  If  suc 
cessful,  this  would  place  him  in  command  of  the 
roads  to  Chickamauga  Station,  and  so  cut  off  Bragg 
from  his  base.  It  was  necessary  to  wait  for  several 
days,  however,  for  Sherman's  men,  who  had  been 
outstripped  by  their  eager  commander.  In  the 
meantime,  two  days  of  rain  had  ruined  the  roads, 
and  raised  the  river  to  such  a  height  that  one  of  the 
pontoon  bridges  was  swept  away.  Moreover,  no 
tidings  had  been  received  from  Burnside,  whose 
telegraphic  communication  had  been  broken  by 
Longstreet's  advance,  and  who  was  evidently  in 
great  need.  By  November  23d  Grant  felt  that  the 
emergency  was  so  great  that  he  gave  the  word  to  ad 
vance  before  Sherman's  men  were  in  position. 

The  first  operations  of  the  three  days'  battle  were 
gallantly  performed  by  the  Army  of  the  Cumberland, 
whose  fighting  tone  was  now  admirable.  Between 
Chattanooga  and  the  foot  of  Missionary  Eidge,  Bragg 
had  a  number  of  outposts  centering  on  Orchard 
Knob,  a  slight  elevation  about  one  mile  south  of  the 
city.  On  the  afternoon  of  November  23d  Thomas 
so  quietly  moved  out  his  men,  with  Sheridan's  and 
Wood's  divisions  in  the  lead,  that  the  enemy  thought 
it  was  a  dress  parade.  Then  the  word  was  given 
for  a  charge,  and  the  steady  advance  was  never 
slackened  until  Orchard  Knob  and  all  of  its  out 
posts  were  taken,  and  the  Union  line  moved  up  to 
the  foot  of  the  Eidge. 

Meanwhile,   Sherman   had  led  his  men   behind 


CHATTANOOGA  201 

Chattanooga,  and  held  them  hidden  on  the  north 
bank  of  the  Tennessee,  near  the  mouth  of  Chicka- 
mauga  Creek.  Bragg  evidently  thought  that  Sher 
man  had  marched  away  to  Knoxville ;  but  on  the 
night  of  November  23d,  by  aid  of  a  steamer  and 
pontoons,  two  divisions  were  landed  on  the  south 
bank  of  the  river,  and  by  noon  of  November  24th 
the  bridge  was  completed,  and  Sherman's  four  divi 
sions  were  ready  for  the  attack.  He  instantly  led 
his  men  against  Bragg' s  extreme  right  wing,  on  the 
end  of  Missionary  Eidge,  and  by  nightfall  his  com 
mand  had  been  pushed  with  such  vigor  that  he  had 
effected  a  lodgment  on  the  Eidge  itself,  thereby 
threatening  the  road  to  Chickainauga. 

At  the  same  time  that  Sherman  was  fighting  on 
the  east,  Hooker  was  advancing  from  Lookout  Val 
ley  on  the  west.  In  his  plans  Grant  had  expected 
to  have  brought  Hooker  into  Chattanooga,  and  then 
to  have  pushed  his  men  down  the  line  of  the  creek, 
so  as  to  separate  Bragg' s  left  wing,  on  Lookout 
Mountain,  from  the  main  body.  This  would  have 
involved  a  double  crossing  of  the  Tennessee,  and  in 
the  then  torrential  condition  of  the  river  would 
have  been  a  hazardous  movement,  so  Hooker  was 
ordered  to  march  around  the  mountain.  Ascending 
it  part  way  in  the  rear  of  the  Confederate  position, 
Hooker  formed  his  men  in  a  battle-line  up  and  down 
the  mountain,  and  sweeping  around  its  north  end, 
he  drove  the  Confederates  everywhere  before  him. 
It  was  not  a  quick  operation,  for  Lookout  Mountain 
is  rugged,  densely  timbered  and  full  of  ravines,  but 


202  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

Hooker  steadily  advanced,  and  by  four  o'clock  the 
Confederates  fled,  losing  heavily  in  prisoners.  As 
the  day  was  hazy,  the  fighting  on  the  mountain 
could  only  be  seen  from  the  lowlands  by  the  flash  of 
the  firing,  and  so  this  victory  came  to  be  called 
"  the  Battle  of  the  Clouds." 

By  nightfall  Grant's  army  was  in  a  continuous 
line,  having  achieved  material  gains  on  both  flanks, 
and  was  full  of  confidence  for  the  morrow.  Orders 
were  at  once  prepared  to  resume  the  fighting  at 
daybreak.  Sherman  was  to  complete  his  turning 
movement  on  the  left,  Hooker  was  to  cross  the 
Chattanooga  Creek  and  take  the  Rossville  Gap, 
while  Thomas  was  to  menace  the  centre.  On  the 
morning  of  November  25th  Sherman  started  the 
fighting  at  sunrise,  and  endeavored  to  push  his  ad 
vantage  of  the  previous  day.  His  assault  had  dis 
closed,  however,  what  had  not  been  learned  before, 
that  the  Eidge  was  not  continuous,  but  was  cut  by  a 
road  and  railroad  tunnel,  with  almost  precipitous 
sides.  In  spite  of  the  vigor  of  Sherman's  assaults, 
he  could  not  get  past  this  obstacle,  and  his  progress 
was  blocked.  Bragg  early  recognized  the  danger 
from  this  attack,  and  hastened  heavy  reinforce 
ments  to  his  threatened  right  wing,  until  Sherman 
found  himself  faced  with  superior  numbers.  Mean 
while,  Hooker's  advance  had  been  blocked  by  a 
burned  bridge,  and  the  rebuilding  kept  him  out  of 
the  battle  for  four  hours. 

As  the  afternoon  hours  came,  Grant's  plan  was 
only  partially  accomplished,  and  from  his  position 


CHATTANOOGA  203 

at  Orchard  Knob  he  could  see  Sherman's  difficulty, 
and  also  the  columns  of  reinforcements  marching 
along  the  Eidge  to  meet  him.  In  this  emergency, 
realizing  that  Bragg  was  weakening  his  centre  to 
strengthen  his  right,  he  ordered  Thomas  to  advance 
and  attack  the  Eidge.  It  is  probable  that  Grant 
only  intended  this  attack  as  a  diversion  to  relieve 
Sherman.  The  Eidge  was  wooded  and  precipitous, 
with  deep  gullies,  and  protected  by  a  line  of  rifle- 
pits  at  the  bottom,  another  half-way  up,  and  by  en 
trenchments  and  artillery  on  the  summit.  Such  a 
position  seemed  impregnable,  and  so  Bragg  thought. 
But  when  Thomas's  men,  again  under  the  lead  of 
Sheridan  and  Wood,  advanced,  they  took  the  first 
row  of  rifle-pits,  and  then  found  themselves  exposed 
to  the  fire  from  above.  Instantly,  without  waiting 
for  orders,  the  men  started  to  run  up  the  Eidge.  It 
was  not  the  word  of  command  which  started  them  : 
it  was  rather  the  eagerness  to  fight  of  an  army  which 
burned  to  redeem  the  disaster  of  Chickamauga. 

The  storming  of  Missionary  Eidge  is  one  of  the 
heroic  episodes  of  warfare,  and  its  glory  belongs 
especially  to  the  privates  of  the  North.  It  was  not 
an  easy  task  which  they  had  accepted.  It  meant 
running  up  a  steep  hillside,  in  the  face  of  shot  and 
shell,  and  then  resting  in  gullies,  and  reforming, 
then  ehargiog  again,  until  they  came  so  close  to  the 
crest  that  Bragg' s  artillerists  lighted  the  fuses  of 
shells,  and  tossed  them  down  on  their  enemy.  But 
the  advance  never  faltered,  and  when  they  finally 
reached  the  summit,  Bragg' s  veterans  were  seized 


204  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

with  sudden  panic  and  fled.1  It  was  the  reverse  of 
Chickamauga :  Bragg  and  his  generals  were  now 
swept  away  in  turn,  and  his  headquarters  seized  by 
the  Union  advance.  The  divisions  of  Sheridan  and 
"Wood  first  reached  the  crest  of  the  Eidge,  and  are 
entitled  to  the  honors  of  this  signal  victory. 

A  vigorous  pursuit  was  started,  with  Sheridan  in 
the  van,  but  the  approach  of  night  gave  Bragg  an 
opportunity  to  draw  off  his  defeated  forces.  One 
division  was  blocked  by  Hooker,  and  many  of  its 
men  captured,  but  in  the  main  the  Confederates 
made  good  their  retreat.3  For  two  days  Grant  fol- 

1  Charles  A.  Dana  in  "Recollections  of  the  Civil  War,"  p. 
150,  gives  a  vivid  account  of  the  main  attack  : 

"The  storming  of  the  ridge  by  our  troops  was  one  of  the 
greatest  miracles  in  military  history.  No  man  who  climbs  the 
ascent  by  any  of  the  roads  that  wind  along  its  front  can  believe 
that  eighteen  thousand  men  were  moved  in  tolerably  good  order 
up  its  broken  and  crumbling  face  unless  it  was  his  fortune  to 
witness  the  deed.  It  seemed  as  awful  as  a  visible  interposition 
of  God.  Neither  Grant  nor  Thomas  intended  it.  Their  orders 
were  to  carry  the  rifle-pits  along  the  base  of  the  ridge  and  cap 
ture  their  occupants  ;  but  when  this  was  accomplished,  the  un 
accountable  spirit  of  the  troops  bore  them  bodily  up  those  im 
practicable  steeps,  in  spite  of  the  bristling  rifle-pits  on  the  crest, 
and  the  thirty  cannons  enfilading  every  gully.  The  order  to 
storm  appears  to  have  been  given  simultaneously  by  Generals 
Sheridan  and  Wood  because  the  men  were  not  to  be  held  back, 
dangerous  as  the  attempt  appeared  to  military  prudence.  Be 
sides,  the  generals  had  caught  the  inspiration  of  the  men,  and 
were  ready  themselves  to  undertake  impossibilities." 

2  The  losses  in  the  Battle  of  Chattanooga  were  reported  as  fol 
lows  : 

Killed  Wounded  Missing 

Union  753  4,722  349 

Confederate        361  2,180  4,146 

As  Grant  took  over  6,100  prisoners,  these  figures  are  obviously 
incomplete.  In  addition,  forty  guns  were  taken  by  the  victors. 


CHATTANOOGA  205 

lowed  vigorously,  but  Burnside's  need  was  upper 
most  in  his  mind.  When  he  fought  the  battle,  word 
had  already  been  received  that  Buruside  could  only 
hold  out  until  December  3d.  So  Granger's  corps 
was  ordered  to  the  relief,  and  later,  as  Granger 
made  a  slow  start,  Sherman  was  placed  in  command, 
and  his  divisions  added  to  the  expedition.  Under 
this  vigorous  leadership,  an  army  of  25,000  men 
was  hurried  to  east  Tennessee,  and  on  December  3d 
Sherman's  cavalry  entered  Knoxville  and  gave  to 
Burnside  the  welcome  news  of  approaching  relief. 
Longstreet  had  already  made  an  assault,  and  had 
failed  completely.  He  did  not  await  Sherman's  ar 
rival,  but  breaking  the  siege  led  his  men  away  to  the 
east,  in  the  direction  of  Virginia  where,  after  winter 
ing  in  the  mountains,  he  joined  Lee  in  time  for  the 
opening  battles  of  the  next  year. 

Sherman  found  Knoxville  well  provisioned  for  a 
beleaguered  city,  and  dined  with  Burnside  on  roast 
turkey  !  The  loyal  inhabitants  of  the  region  had 
developed  so  many  ways  of  getting  food  to  the  gar 
rison  that  the  extreme  anxiety  about  its  welfare 
seems  to  have  been  unnecessary.  Leaving  Granger's 
divisions  with  Burnside,  who  was  soon  succeeded  by 
General  John  G.  Foster,  Sherman  retraced  his  steps 
to  Chattanooga,  where  his  men  were  ordered  again 
to  Mississippi.  They  had  marched  four  hundred 
miles  to  the  relief  of  Chattanooga,  taken  part  in  a 
great  battle,  and  then  without  any  delay  they  had 
marched  one  hundred  and  twenty  miles  more  to  the 
relief  of  Knoxville. 


206  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

The  Battle  of  Chattanooga  closed  active  military 
operations  in  the  vicinity  for  the  year.  It  was  the 
only  battle  of  the  war  in  which  the  four  greatest 
generals  of  the  North, — Grant,  Sherman,  Sheridan 
and  Thomas,  served  together.  The  victory  as 
sured  Unionist  control  of  Tennessee,  and  practically 
pierced  the  Confederacy,  already  severed  by  the 
Mississippi,  on  a  new  line,  following  the  sweep  of 
the  mountains.  A  few  days  after  the  battle  Bragg, 
who  blamed  his  defeat  on  the  unnecessary  stampede 
of  his  men,  resigned,  and  after  a  slight  delay,  Joseph 
E.  Johnston  was  restored  to  complete  command  in 
the  West.  He  spent  the  winter  at  Dal  ton  and 
Atlanta,  refitting  his  army,  and  gathering  recruits, 
so  as  to  be  ready  for  the  decisive  operations  of  the 
next  year.  Meanwhile,  Grant,  after  his  great  vic 
tory,  had  established  a  sure  basis  for  great  popularity 
with  every  section  of  his  command.  '  *  Our  men  are 
frantic  with  joy  and  enthusiasm,"  wrote  Dana,  "  and 
received  General  Grant  as  he  rode  along  the  line 
after  the  victory  with  tumultuous  shouts. "  Thomas 
was  placed  in  command  at  Chattanooga,  and  Sher 
man,  now  in  charge  of  the  Army  of  the  Tennessee, 
returned  to  Memphis.1 

1  On  December  2d  Grant  wrote  to  Washbnrne  :  "Last 
week  was  a  stirring  time  with  us,  and  a  magnificent  victory  was 

won The  spectacle  was  grand  beyond  anything  that 

has  been  or  is  likely  to  be  on  this  continent.  It  is  the  first  bat 
tle-field  I  have  ever  seen  where  a  plan  could  be  followed  and 
from  one  place  the  whole  field  be  within  one  view.  At  the 
commencement  of  the  battle,  the  line  was  fifteen  miles  long. 
Hooker,  on  our  right,  soon  carried  the  point  of  Lookout  Moun 
tain,  and  Sherman  the  north  end  of  Missionary  Kidge,  thus 


CHATTANOOGA  207 

During  the  winter  ambitious  plans  were  forming 
for  the  next  campaign.  Grant's  mind  was  still 
directed  to  Mobile  or  Atlanta  as  the  true  objective 
points,  but  Halleck  for  a  time  had  a  design  of  send 
ing  Grant  with  his  extra  troops  to  the  west  of  the 
Mississippi  Kiver  to  join  Banks  in  a  campaign  in 
Louisiana  and  Arkansas.  Grant  wrote  in  protest 
against  such  a  detachment  from  the  main  theatre  of 
war,  and  one  of  his  staff  officers  indignantly  ad 
dressed  Dana, — "  Let's  crush  the  head  and  heart  of 
the  rebellion  and  the  tail  can  then  be  ground  to  dust 
or  allowed  to  die  when  the  sun  goes  down.7'  Some 
military  critics  also  suggested  that  an  army  could 
now  be  brought  into  Virginia  from  east  Tennessee, 
on  Lee's  flank,  and  so  aid  in  a  campaign  against 
Richmond. 

As  a  preliminary  to  offensive  operations,  how 
ever,  it  was  necessary  that  Mississippi  should  be 
cleared  of  organized  enemies,  so  as  to  reduce  the 
garrisons,  and  also  safeguard  the  increasing  com 
merce  of  the  river.  To  this  end  Sherman,  in  Feb 
ruary,  1864,  organized  an  expedition  of  twenty 
thousand  men,  with  which  he  overran  the  state 
without  any  effective  opposition,  taking  Meridian, 
where  the  railroad  from  Mobile  crosses  the  railroad 
east  from  Jackson,  and  wrecking  the  means  of  com 
munication  in  every  direction.  Upon  his  return 

shortening  the  line  by  five  or  six  miles,  and  bringing  the  whole 
within  one  view.  Our  troops  behaved  most  magnificently,  and 
have  inflicted  on  the  enemy  the  heaviest  blow  they  have  re 
ceived  during  the  war." 


208  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

he  received  information  that  a  change  was  about  to 
take  place  in  the  nature  of  the  war.  The  day  of 
disjointed  operations  and  isolated  struggles  had 
passed,  for  Grant  was  now  to  be  placed  in  supreme 
command  of  all  of  the  armies  of  the  Union. 

The  true  leader  had  been  found,  and  the  great 
resources  of  the  Union  were  henceforth  to  be  di 
rected  by  a  master-hand. 


CHAPTER  X 

WITH  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC 

u  IN  a  military  point  of  view,  thank  heaven  !  the 
*  coming  man/  for  whom  we  have  so  long  been 
waiting,  seems  really  to  have  come."  So  wrote  the 
eminent  historian,  John  Lothrop  Motley,  to  his 
mother,  on  December  29,  1863,  from  the  distant 
city  of  Vienna,  where  he  was  representing  his  coun 
try  as  Minister  to  Austria.  "So  far  as  I  can  un 
derstand  the  subject,  Ulysses  Grant  is  at  least  the 
equal  to  any  general  now  living  in  any  part  of  the 
world,  and  by  far  the  first  that  the  war  has  pro 
duced  on  either  side.  I  expect  that  when  the 
Vicksburg  and  Tennessee  campaigns  come  to  be 
written,  many  years  hence,  it  will  appear  that  they 
are  masterpieces  of  military  art.  A  correspondent 
of  a  widely-circulated  German  newspaper  (the  Augs 
burg  Gazette),  very  far  from  friendly  to  America, 
writing  from  the  seat  of  war  in  Tennessee,  speaks  of 
the  battle  of  Chattanooga  as  an  action  which,  both 
for  scientific  combination  and  bravery  in  execution, 
is  equal  to  any  battle  of  modern  times  from  the  days 
of  Frederick  the  Great  downward."  * 

While  this  point  of  view  was  slowly  developing  in 
Europe,  it  had  already  become  a  settled  conviction 

1  "The  Correspondence  of  John  Lothrop  Motley,"  Vol.  II, 
p.  146. 


210  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

in  the  North.  During  the  earlier  campaigns  of  the 
war,  Lincoln,  as  the  constitutional  Commander-in- 
Chief  of  the  Army,  had  been  compelled  to  devote  a 
large  portion  of  his  time  to  questions  of  strategy  and 
warfare.  With  his  strong  common  sense  and  clear 
judgment,  although  without  any  previous  military 
training,  he  developed  in  time  into  an  excellent 
critic  of  matters  relating  to  the  army,  but  his  cor 
respondence  shows  how  he  distrusted  his  own  opin 
ion  in  this  new  field,  and  how  eagerly  he  sought  for 
some  one  with  the  requisite  capacity  to  assume  this 
task.  The  first  three  years  of  the  war  might  almost 
be  termed  the  period  of  search  for  a  general.  Some 
times  a  leader  was  found  who  could  succeed  in  the 
preliminary  work  of  organization,  and  then  later 
an  inability  to  use  his  forces  would  be  discovered. 
Sometimes  there  was  circumstantial  evidence  that 
officers  in  high  places,  while  thoroughly  loyal  to  the 
Union,  were  nevertheless  half-hearted  in  their  de 
sire  to  crush  the  South,  or  else  lukewarm  in  support 
of  the  administration's  policy  toward  the  negro. 

As  an  illustration  of  Lincoln's  difficulties,  the  case 
of  Major  John  J.  Key,  whose  brother  was  on  Mc- 
Clellan's  staff,  may  be  cited.  After  the  battle  of 
Antietam,  an  officer  asked  Major  Key  why  an  ad 
vance  had  not  been  ordered,  and  the  rebel  army 
11  bagged,"  to  which  he  replied  :  "  That  is  not  the 
game ;  the  object  is  that  neither  army  shall  get 
much  advantage  of  the  other  ;  that  both  shall  be 
kept  in  the  field  till  they  are  exhausted,  when  we 
will  make  a  compromise  and  save  slavery. "  After 


WITH  THE  AEMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC    211 

a  hearing  before  the  President,  Key  was  dismissed 
from  the  military  service,  Lincoln's  order  containing 
this  comment :  "  In  my  view  it  is  wholly  inadmis 
sible  for  any  gentleman  holding  a  military  commis 
sion  from  the  United  States  to  utter  such  sentiments 
as  Major  Key  is  herein  proved  to  have  done." 

The  combination  of  inexperience,  incapacity  and 
half-hearted  ness  in  some  subordinates  had  forced 
Lincoln  to  give  orders  to  generals  in  the  field,  but 
nothing  better  demonstrates  his  genuine  desire  to 
avoid  meddling  than  his  attitude  toward  the  gen 
erals  who  did  succeed.  From  the  beginning  of 
Grant's  career  he  had  not  been  hampered  or  both 
ered  in  any  way  by  directions  from  the  President. 
After  the  surrender  of  Vicksburg,  Lincoln  wrote 
him  his  first  letter,  in  congratulation  on  the  results 
of  his  generalship.  During  the  Chattanooga  cam 
paign  he  received  many  messages  that  showed 
Lincoln's  anxiety  about  Buruside,  but  absolutely 
nothing  which  altered  his  plans  or  changed  his  dis 
positions.  The  results  which  Grant  had  accom 
plished,  and  the  patriotic  efficiency  of  the  man  as 
portrayed  in  Dana's  confidential  letters  to  his  chief, 
now  strongly  contributed  to  suggest  that  the  time 
had  come  to  give  over  the  military  work  to  an  expert. 

Nor  was  Congress  slow  to  respond  to  the  national 
need.  Early  in  the  winter  Senator  Howe  had  of 
fered  a  resolution  authorizing  the  President  to  en 
list  a  million  volunteers,  and  to  place  Grant  in 
command,  with  power  to  appoint  subordinates. 
The  more  practicable  plan  was  suggested  by  Wash- 


212  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

burne,  who,  after  the  battle  of  Chattanooga,  had  in 
troduced  a  bill  to  revive  the  grade  of  Lieutenant- 
General  in  the  arrny,  and  to  authorize  the  President 
to  appoint  to  this  position  some  officer,  not  below 
the  grade  of  major-general,  with  power,  under  the 
direction  of  the  President,  to  command  all  of  the 
armies  of  the  United  States.  This  title  had  been 
conferred  upon  Washington  in  the  last  years  of  his 
life,  and  by  brevet,  upon  Scott.  Its  revival  met 
with  some  opposition,  chiefly  from  those  who  feared 
that  a  military  despotism  might  result  from  the 
war,  but  the  bill  passed  the  House  and  Senate  and 
on  February  29th  was  signed  by  the  President. 
During  the  Congressional  debates,  Grant's  name  was 
frequently  mentioned  as  the  probable  appointee,  and 
his  achievements  and  shortcomings  were  freely  dis 
cussed.  Washburne,  in  reviewing  his  record,  de 
clared  that,  "  Every  promotion  he  has  received  since 
he  first  entered  the  service  to  put  down  this  rebel 
lion  was  moved  without  his  knowledge  or  consent." 
During  this  flattering  discussion  there  was  much 
natural  curiosity  about  Grant's  politics.  In  the  early 
months  of  1864  some  opposition  to  Lincoln  had 
developed,  and  attempts  were  being  made  to  centre 
its  strength  on  a  candidate  who  could  be  elected. 
Military  reputation  has  always  appealed  to  politi 
cians  in  the  United  States,  and  attempts  were  now 
made  in  several  quarters  to  sound  Grant  and  to  draw 
forth  his  views.  While  originally  a  Democrat, 
there  can  be  no  question  but  that  by  this  time  he 
had  identified  the  restoration  of  the  Union  with  the 


WITH  THE  AEMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC    213 

continued  success  of  the  Republican  party,  and  it 
was  not  until  after  a  residence  in  Washington  that 
civil  ambitions  began  to  develop.  "  I  am  not  a 
candidate  for  any  office, "  he  wrote  to  his  father  from 
Nashville  on  February  20,  1864.  "  All  I  want  is  to 
be  left  alone  to  fight  this  war  out.  ...  I  know 
that  I  feel  that  nothing  personal  to  myself  could 
ever  induce  me  to  accept  a  political  office."  A 
month  earlier  he  had  written  Isaac  W.  Morris,  son  of 
the  Senator  who  had  helped  his  application  to  West 
Point :  u  In  your  letter  you  say  that  I  have  it  in 
my  power  to  be  the  next  President.  This  is  the  last 
thing  in  the  world  I  desire.  I  would  regard  such  a 
consummation  as  highly  unfortunate  for  myself,  if 
not  for  the  country.7'  One  of  his  letters,  in  which 
this  point  of  view  was  expressed,  was  shown  to 
Lincoln,  and  satisfied  him  that  here  was  no  political 
general,  who  would  allow  his  plans  to  be  determined 
by  considerations  of  vote-getting. 

So  well  content  was  Lincoln  with  his  inquiry  that 
the  same  day  upon  which  Washburne's  bill  was 
signed  witnessed  his  nomination  of  Grant  as  Lieu 
tenant -General  of  the  armies  of  the  United  States. 
Grant  was  then  at  Nashville,  engrossed  with  his 
preparations  for  the  next  Western  campaign. 
On  March  3d  he  received  orders  to  report  at 
Washington,  and  the  next  day  he  started  east,  first 
sending  a  letter  to  Sherman,  which  expresses  a 
friendship  as  real  and  unselfish  as  anything  which 
has  come  down  from  the  days  of  chivalry.1 

1  See  Appendix  A,  p.  352. 


214  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

Without  delay  Grant  proceeded  to  Washington^ 
where  he  had  not  been  since  his  boyhood  days. 
His  reception  was  instant  proof  of  his  place  in  the 
minds  of  his  countrymen.  Stopping  at  the  Willard 
Hotel,  he  was  quickly  recognized  and  toasted  by  a 
large  group  of  enthusiastic  diners.  Later,  on  the 
evening  of  March  8th,  he  went  to  the  White  House 
where  he  was  presented  to  Lincoln,  and  lionized  by 
a  throng  of  curious  visitors,  whose  rush  was  so 
eager  that  Seward  pulled  him  upon  a  sofa  to  bow 
his  acknowledgments.  The  next  day,  in  the  pres 
ence  of  the  Cabinet,  Lincoln  delivered  the  commis 
sion  as  Lieutenaut-General,  speaking  as  follows  : 
"  General  Grant,  the  nation's  appreciation  of  what 
you  have  done,  and  its  reliance  upon  you  for  what 
remains  to  do  in  the  existing  great  struggle,  are  now 
presented,  with  this  commission  constituting  you 
Lieutenant-General  in  the  Army  of  the  United 
States.  With  this  high  honor  devolves  upon  you, 
also,  a  corresponding  responsibility.  As  the  coun 
try  herein  trusts  you,  so,  under  God,  it  will  sustain 
you.  I  scarcely  need  to  add  that  with  what  I  here 
speak  for  the  nation  goes  my  own  hearty  personal 
concurrence." 

To  this  formal  but  kindly  greeting,  Grant  re 
sponded  as  follows,  reading  from  a  half  sheet  of 
note-paper,  on  which  he  had  written  in  lead  pencil : 
"  Mr.  President,  I  accept  this  commission  with 
gratitude  for  the  high  honor  conferred.  With  the 
aid  of  the  noble  armies  that  have  fought  on  so  many 
fields  for  our  common  country,  it  will  be  my  earnest 


WITH  THE  AEMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC    215 

endeavor  not  to  disappoint  your  expectations.  I  feel 
the  full  weight  of  the  responsibilities  now  devolving 
on  me  ;  and  I  know  that  if  they  are  met,  it  will  be  due 
to  those  armies,  and  above  all  to  the  favor  of  that 
Providence  which  leads  both  nations  and  men." 

During  the  reception,  Lincoln  had  told  Grant  of 
the  nature  of  the  exercises  on  the  morrow,  and  had 
suggested  to  him  to  say  in  reply  something  which 
would  prevent  jealousy  on  the  part  of  other  generals, 
and  also  something  which  would  put  him  on  good 
terms  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  It  will  be 
noticed  that  in  Grant's  response  this  request  was 
quietly  ignored.  He  had  approached  Washington 
with  the  soldier's  dread  of  politics  and  politicians, 
so  frequently  voiced  by  Sherman  in  his  letters,  and 
he  evidently  felt  that,  on  his  first  public  utterance  as 
Lieutenant- General,  he  should  say  only  those  things 
which  were  based  on  his  own  experience. 

It  is  interesting  to  note  the  impression  which 
Grant  made  upon  the  leaders  of  the  East  in  this 
visit  to  the  capital,  at  a  time  when  his  unequaled 
record  in  the  West  made  his  personality  of  para 
mount  interest.  John  Sherman  wrote  to  his  brother, 
— "  His  will  and  common  sense  are  the  strongest 
features  of  his  character.  He  is  plain  and  modest, 
and  so  far  bears  himself  well."  Eichard  H.  Dana 
was  staying  at  Willard's  Hotel  when  Grant  arrived, 
and  described  him  as  "a  short,  round-shouldered 
man,  in  a  very  tarnished  major-general's  uni 
form.  .  .  .  He  had  no  gait,  no  station,  no 
manner,  rough,  light-brown  whiskers,  a  blue  eye 


216  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

and  rather  a  scrubby  look  withal."  But  even  the 
cultured  man  of  letters  noticed  that  he  had  "  a  look 
of  resolution,  as  if  he  could  not  be  trifled  with,  and 
an  entire  indifference  to  the  crowd  about  him." 
Perhaps  the  most  interesting  of  contemporary  ac 
counts  is  that  of  Meade,  who  was  still  in  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  who  evidently 
expected  tnat  the  advent  of  this  new  commander 
from  the  West  would  deprive  him  of  the  command 
which  he  had  fairly  earned  at  Gettysburg.  In 
December,  1863,  after  the  victory  at  Chattanooga, 
Meade  wrote  :  i  i  You  ask  me  about  Grant.  It  is 
difficult  for  me  to  reply.  I  knew  him  as  a  young 
man  in  the  Mexican  War,  at  which  time  he  was  con 
sidered  a  clever  young  officer,  but  nothing  extraor 
dinary.  He  was  compelled  to  resign  some  years 
before  the  present  war,  owing  to  his  irregular 
habits.  I  think  his  great  characteristic  is  indomi 
table  energy  and  great  tenacity  of  purpose.  He 
certainly  has  been  very  successful,  and  that  is  now 
adays  the  measure  of  reputation.  The  enemy, 
however,  have  never  had  in  any  of  their  Western 
armies  the  generals  or  the  troops  they  have  had  in 
Virginia,  nor  has  the  country  been  so  favorable  for 
them  there  as  here.  Grant  has  undoubtedly  shown 
very  superior  abilities  and  is,  I  think,  justly  entitled 
to  all  the  honors  they  propose  to  bestow  upon 
him."  l  But  in  March,  1864,  after  Grant  had  been 
appointed  Lieutenant- General,  and  had  visited  the 

1  "  Life  and  Letters  of  General  George  Gordon  Meade,"  Vol. 
II,  pp.  162-163. 


WITH  THE  AEMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC    217 

Army  of  the  Potomac,  and  conferred  with  Meade, 
the  latter  wrote, — "I  was  very  much  pleased  with 
General  Grant.  In  the  views  he  expressed  to  me 
he  showed  much  more  capacity  and  character  than 
I  had  expected."  One  of  the  close  observers  of  the 
war  time,  whose  voluminous  diary  contains  many 
trenchant  comments  on  men  and  officers,  was  the 
Secretary  of  the  Navy,  Gideon  Welles,  and  he  wrote  : 
"  There  was  in  his  deportment  little  of  the  dignity 
and  bearing  of  the  soldier  but  more  of  an  air  of 
business  than  his  first  appearance  indicated,  but  he 
showed  latent  power." 

Morris  Schaff,  who  had  but  recently  graduated 
from  West  Point,  thus  describes  the  new  general, 
with  the  eyes  of  youth  :  "When  he  came  to  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac — I  remember  the  day  well — I 
never  was  more  surprised  in  my  life.  I  had  ex 
pected  to  see  quite  another  type  of  man  :  one  of  the 
chief  tain- type,  surveying  the  world  with  dominant, 
inveterate  eyes  and  a  certain  detached  military  lofti 
ness.  But  behold,  what  did  I  see?  A  medium- 
sized,  mild,  unobtrusive,  inconspicuously  dressed, 
modest  and  naturally  silent  man.  He  had  a  low, 
gently  vibrant  voice  and  steady,  thoughtful,  softly 
blue  eyes.  Not  a  hint  of  self-consciousness,  impa 
tience,  of  restlessness,  either  of  mind  or  body  ;  on  the 
contrary,  the  centre  of  a  pervasive  quiet  which 
seemed  to  be  conveyed  to  every  one  around  him — 
even  the  orderlies  all  through  the  campaign  were 
obviously  at  their  ease."  l 

1  Schaff,  "The  Battle  of  the  Wilderness,"  p.  47. 


218  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

From  his  appointment,  Lincoln  trusted  Grant 
implicitly,  and  the  latter  loyally  responded  to  the 
trust.  Their  correspondence  is  expressive  of  a 
mutual  confidence,  wholly  different  from  the  carp 
ing,  critical  attitude  of  the  dispatches  of  McClellan 
or  Eosecrans.  Lincoln  did  not  seek  to  penetrate  his 
general's  plans,  nor  did  he  try  to  change  them  as  they 
were  announced,  and  throughout  the  long  hard  year 
of  struggle  which  was  now  opening,  never  withdrew 
his  confidence  from  his  general.  There  is  a  well- 
substantiated  story  that  once  Stanton  objected  to 
Grant's  plan  of  campaign,  as  leaving  Washington 
exposed  to  attack  with  an  insufficient  garrison,  a 
fear  afterward  justified  by  Early 's  campaign. 
Upon  complaining  to  Lincoln,  the  President  said, 
"  Now,  Mr.  Secretary,  you  know  we  have  been  try 
ing  to  manage  this  army  for  nearly  three  years,  and 
you  know  we  haven't  done  much  with  it.  We  sent 
over  the  mountains,  and  brought  Mr.  Grant,  as  Mrs. 
Grant  calls  him,  to  manage  it  for  us,  and  now  I 
guess  we  had  better  let  Mr.  Grant  have  his  own 
way." 

When  the  "show  business  "  at  Washington  was 
concluded,  Grant,  styling  these  social  experiences 
"his  warmest  campaign  during  the  war,"  returned 
to  Tennessee  for  a  conference  with  his  Western 
lieutenants.  The  plan  of  campaign  for  the  spring 
was  already  fully  matured  and  its  chief  requirement 
was  coordinate  action  by  all  the  armies  of  the  North. 
In  the  opening  paragraphs  of  his  final  report  to  the 
Secretary  of  War,  he  clearly  stated  the  strategic 


WITH  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC    219 

weakness  of  the  earlier  campaigns.  u  The  armies 
in  the  East  and  West  acted  independently  and  with 
out  concert,  like  a  balky  team,  no  two  ever  pulling 
together,  enabling  the  enemy  to  use  to  greater 
advantage  his  interior  lines  of  communication  for 
transporting  troops  from  East  to  West,  reinforcing 
the  armies  most  vigorously  pressed,  and  to  furlough 
large  numbers,  during  seasons  of  inactivity  on  our 
part,  to  go  to  their  homes  and  do  the  work  of  pro 
ducing  for  the  support  of  their  armies.'7  His 
problem  was  to  break  the  military  power  of  the 
rebellion  and  the  methods  which  he  determined  to 
employ  were,  first,  to  use  the  greatest  number  of 
troops  practicable  against  the  armed  force  of  the 
enemy,  and,  second,  to  hammer  continuously  until, 
by  mere  attrition,  if  in  no  other  way,  rebellion 
should  be  overthrown.  It  needed  no  peculiar  genius 
to  perfect  a  plan  based  fundamentally  on  common 
sense,  but  it  did  require  steadfastness  of  purpose 
and  administrative  ability  of  the  highest  order  to 
insure  the  harmonious  cooperation  of  generals  and 
armies  in  nineteen  separate  departments  over  an 
area  continental  in  its  extent. 

The  specific  details  of  the  campaign  were  soon 
arranged.  Sherman,  who  had  succeeded  Grant  in 
command  of  the  military  division  of  the  Mississippi, 
was  to  lead  the  armies  of  the  Cumberland,  Tennes 
see  and  Ohio  against  Johnston,  who  was  protecting 
Atlanta.  The  Army  of  the  Potomac,  which  had 
been  reorganized  by  Meade  into  three  corps,  the 
Second,  Fifth  and  Sixth,  commanded  respectively 


220  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

by  Hancock,  Warren  and  Sedgwick,  was  to  attack 
Lee's  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, — the  main  defense 
of  the  capital  of  the  Confederacy.  Butler,  with  the 
Army  of  the  Jaines,  was  to  threaten  Eichmond  from 
the  southeast.  Some  minor  operations  were  also 
undertaken,  such  as  the  unfortunate  Eed  Eiver  ex 
pedition  under  Banks,  the  orders  for  which  had  been 
issued  prior  to  Grant' s  assumption  of  the  command  ; 
but  wherever  possible,  a  consolidation  was  effected, 
so  as  to  bring  the  greatest  possible  force  to  bear 
upon  the  important  objective  points.  In  this  way 
large  reinforcements  were  gathered  for  Butler's 
army  and  another  corps,  the  Ninth,  under  Burnside, 
for  Meade's  army.  Sheridan  was  ordered  east  and 
placed  in  charge  of  the  cavalry  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac. 

Against  the  advice  of  his  Western  friends,  Grant 
decided  to  assume  personal  charge  of  the  operations 
against  Lee,  not  only  because  of  their  primary  im 
portance,  but  also  in  recognition  of  the  fact  that 
Washington  was  the  storm-centre  of  the  political 
influences  which  had  continually  interfered  with  the 
success  of  the  army  in  the  East.  It  was  less  than 
six  months  from  this  time  that  Lincoln,  writing  in 
approval  of  one  of  Grant's  suggestions,  said,  "I 
repeat  to  you,  it  will  neither  be  done  nor  attempted, 
unless  you  watch  it  every  day  and  hour,  and  force 
it."  When  Grant  had  assumed  command,  Meade, 
with  the  chivalry  of  his  high-bred  nature,  at  once 
offered  to  resign  the  command  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  so  as  to  leave  the  way  open  for  Sherman 


WITH  THE  AEMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC    221 

or  some  Western  general,  but  Grant  declined  this 
proposition  in  the  most  complimentary  terms,  and 
henceforth  established  his  headquarters  near  to  that 
of  Meade,  giving  his  orders,  whenever  possible, 
through  the  latter  and  constantly  endeavoring  with 
fine  consideration  to  avoid  wounding  the  feelings  of 
the  subordinate  under  whom  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  had  won  its  greatest  victory.  This  double- 
headed  arrangement  for  the  command  of  the  army 
has  been  severely  criticized  as  leading  to  confusion 
and  lack  of  direction  and  responsibility,  but  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  it  was  highly  advantageous  to 
the  General  to  have  at  his  right  hand  one  who 
through  intimate  association  had  become  acquainted 
with  the  fighting  power  and  capacity  for  leadership 
of  his  subordinates  and  their  troops. 

Two  mouths  were  spent  in  accumulating  supplies 
and  other  necessary  preparations  and  the  first  week 
of  May  was  appointed  for  the  general  advance.  On 
schedule  time,  as  the  parts  of  one  vast  machine, 
Sherman  advanced  against  Dalton,  Butler  moved  up 
the  Eiver  James  and  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  com 
menced  its  death-grapple  with  its  redoubtable 
opponent.  During  the  spring  Meade' s  army,  which, 
including  Burnside,  numbered  120,000,  was  en 
camped  north  of  the  Eapidan  and  west  of  Fredericks- 
burg.  The  Confederates,  less  than  70,000  in  all, 
were  still  in  winter  quarters  south  of  the  Eapidan  in 
three  corps  commanded  by  Ewell,  A.  P.  Hill  and 
Longstreet.  Between  these  two  forces,  which  from 
discipline  and  training  were  probably  the  finest 


222  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

fighting  organizations  ever  seen  in  the  republic,  was 
the  dark  and  bloody  ground  of  the  Virginia  wilder 
ness,  a  district  of  twenty-five  miles  of  dense  forest, 
"  scrubby,  stubborn  oaks  and  low-limbed,  dis 
ordered,  haggard  pines, "  a  stunted  growth  of 
trees  intermingled  with  thick  underbrush  already 
hallowed  by  the  sad  memories  of  Chancellorsville. 

In  determining  upon  a  line  of  advance  three  plans 
were  considered  :  first,  to  transport  the  army  by  the 
Chesapeake  Bay  and  its  tributaries  to  the  peninsula, 
and  thence  to  approach  Bichinond  from  the  south 
east.  This  had  been  McClellan's  plan,  and  as  in  his 
day  it  was  open  to  the  objection  that  it  uncovered 
Washington  to  a  frontal  attack.  Moreover,  it 
meant  that  the  fighting  would  take  place  when  Lee 
was  protected  by  the  entrenchments  around  Rich 
mond,  and  as  Grant  had  early  realized  that  the 
Confederate  Army,  rather  than  the  capital,  was 
his  real  objective  point,  this  plan  was  rejected. 
Secondly,  he  could  advance  by  the  right  flank  and, 
by  turning  Lee's  position,  approach  Richmond  from 
the  northwest ;  but  this  involved  a  departure  from 
the  rivers  which  furnished  a  convenient  mode  of 
supply  and  would  hence  result  in  a  long  and 
hazardous  line  of  communications.  There  remained 
the  approach  by  Lee's  left  flank,  and  it  was  Grant's 
expectation  that  the  first  marches  could  be  made  so 
speedily  as  to  place  his  army  in  the  clear  ground 
beyond  the  Wilderness,  before  Lee  could  intervene. 

Never  is  attention  to  detail  more  needed  than 
when  a  commander  is  face  to  face  with  the  enemy. 


WITH  THE  AEMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC    223 

The  first  orders,  copies  of  which  were  sent  to  all  corps 
commanders,  so  that  each  might  be  advised  not  only 
what  was  expected  of  himself  but  of  the  others,  are 
given  in  full  as  an  illustration  of  the  exactitude  of 
the  plan.1  Early  in  the  morning  of  May  4th,  the 
army  commenced  its  march  and  before  night  all 
except  Bumside  were  across  the  Eapidan  together 
with  a  large  part  of  the  trains  numbering  over  4,000 
wagons.  It  is  possible  that  a  rapid  march  might 
have  taken  the  army  through  the  Wilderness  with 
out  a  battle,  but  this  would  have  involved  a  danger 
to  the  trains  and  a  possible  separation  from  Burn- 
side.  Meanwhile  Lee,  whose  customary  vigilance 
had  been  much  increased  by  the  expectation  of  an 
offensive  movement,  had  determined  to  force  the 
fighting  in  the  Wilderness,  where  the  nature  of  the 
ground  would  minimize  the  numerical  advantage  of 
the  enemy,  both  in  men  and  artillery.  On  May  5th 
Sedgwick  was  on  the  right,  Warren  in  the  centre, 
and  Hancock  some  miles  in  advance  at  Chancellors- 
ville,  while  Burnside  was  in  the  rear  crossing  the 
Eapidan,  when  Ewell  advanced  against  Sedgwick 
and  Hill  against  Warren,  and  the  battle  commenced. 
When  the  presence  of  the  foe  was  ascertained 
Hancock  was  ordered  back  from  Chancellorsville  so 
as  to  connect  with  Warren.  During  the  whole  of 
this  day  the  battle  raged  furiously  with  lines  so  close 
that  there  was  a  succession  of  hand-to-hand  combats 
and  continuous  and  deadly  musketry.  The  dif 
ficulties  of  the  ground  and  the  succession  of  forest, 
*See  Appendix  B,  page  356. 


224  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

underbrush  and  swamp  prevented  many  of  the 
officers  from  seeing  more  than  a  small  proportion  of 
their  commands  and  blocked  absolutely  a  bird's-eye 
view  of  the  battle.  By  night  both  sides  were  ex 
hausted,  but  neither  had  yielded  and  when  darkness 
came  the  combatants  rested  on  the  battle-line,  both 
sides  expecting  reinforcements  on  the  morrow. 

At  five  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  May  6th  the 
fighting  was  resumed  and  Hancock,  who  was  now 
expecting  Buruside,  took  the  offensive  on  the  Orange 
Plank  road.  For  some  time  his  advance  was  suc 
cessful  but  was  eventually  blocked  by  Longstreet's 
heavy  corps.  During  most  of  this  day  the  Union 
left  was  severely  handicapped  by  the  expectation  of 
a  flank  attack  similar  to  that  which  Jackson  had 
tried  so  successfully  against  Hooker  in  the  previous 
year.  Eventually  Lougstreet  formed  four  brigades 
in  line  and  leading  this  strong  column  along  a 
parallel  road  against  the  flank  of  Haucock'sposition, 
for  a  time  swept  everything  before  him.  But  in  the 
early  afternoon,  when  success  seemed  within  reach, 
by  the  supreme  action  of  chance  Longstreet  was 
wounded  by  his  own  men,  and  it  was  some  hours 
before  the  Confederates  could  push  their  advantage 
with  vigor.  When  the  final  attack  was  made  the 
enemy  was  completely  repulsed  and  Hancock  thus 
held  about  the  same  line  as  in  the  morning. 

While  the  left  was  thus  bearing  the  brunt  of  the 
battle  with  attack  and  counter-attack,  on  the  centre 
and  right,  Warren  and  Sedgwick  were  passing 
through  a  similar  experience  and  the  final  fighting 


WITH  THE  AEMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC    225 

of  the  day  came  on  the  extreme  right  when  Gordon 
and  Johnston  made  a  sudden  attack  at  sunset  upon 
Shaler's  brigade,  turning  its  position  and  taking 
several  hundred  prisoners,  thus  compelling  Sedg  wick 
to  reform  his  line. 

Two  days  of  the  hardest  fighting  of  the  war  had 
proved  the  mettle  of  both  armies.  Almost  30,000 
men  were  killed,  wounded  or  missing  and  the 
necessities  of  the  suffering  were  very  great.  In  the 
afternoon  of  the  second  day,  fires  in  the  underbrush 
had  burnt  the  bodies  of  many  of  the  dead  and  prob 
ably  brought  death  to  many  of  the  helpless  wounded. 
Both  sides  were  exhausted  but  dauntless.  In  its 
results  the  battle  cannot  be  counted  as  a  decisive 
victory  for  either.  Lee  could  not  claim  a  victory 
for  now  that  Grant's  entire  army  was  well-placed  in 
a  continuous  line  of  battle  protected  by  temporary 
entrenchments,  he  withdrew  a  mile  distant  and 
fortified  his  position.  Nor  could  Grant  claim  a 
victory,  for  he  had  suffered  far  greater  loss  than  he 
had  inflicted,  nor  had  he  destroyed  the  fighting 
power  of  the  enemy.  The  third  day  opened,  there 
fore,  with  a  series  of  skirmishes  which  disclosed  the 
enemy's  position,  and  then  the  day  was  spent  in 
welcome  rest  and  ministrations  of  mercy. 

The  previous  experience  of  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac  had  suggested  that  after  a  great  battle 
there  should  be  a  season  of  recuperation,  and  this 
tradition  had  inspired  Grant's  criticism  that  the 
army  had  never  been  fought  to  a  finish.  With  this 
thought  in  mind,  therefore,  he  determined  upon  an 


226  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

advance  by  the  left  flank  around  Lee's  army,  and 
during  the  night  of  May  7th  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  led  by  Warren,  moved  out  of  the  Wilder 
ness  toward  Spottsylvania  Court  House.  When  the 
order  to  march  was  given  the  soldiers  could  not  tell 
at  first  whether  it  was  a  retreat  or  an  advance,  but 
as  the  direction  inclined  to  the  southeast  it  was 
evident  that  no  backward  movement  was  intended, 
and  the  cry  of  "On  to  Eichmond''  was  passed 
through  the  lines  with  electric  effect.  From  this 
moment  dated  Grant's  popularity  with  his  new 
army,  which  had  accepted  him  with  some  doubt  as 
to  how  he  would  fare  when  face  to  face  with  this 
hitherto  invincible  opponent. 

South  of  the  Eapidan,  eastern  Virginia  is  cut  by 
a  multitude  of  small  streams  which,  eventually 
uniting  into  larger  rivers,  empty  into  the  Chesapeake. 
The  northernmost  are  the  Mat,  Ta,  Po  and  Ny 
Elvers,  whose  union  forms  the  Mattapony  ;  then 
come  the  North  and  South  Anna,  which  form  the 
Pamunkey ;  then  the  Chickahominy,  which  is  the 
main  tributary  of  the  James,  on  the  north  side,  as 
the  Appomattox  is  on  the  south.  The  Mattapony 
and  the  Pamuukey  eventually  unite  in  the  York 
Eiver,  and  the  district  between  the  York  and  the 
James  is  known  as  the  Peninsula,  and  was  the  scene 
of  McClellan'  s  campaign.  Spottsylvania  is  a  county- 
seat  between  the  Po  and  the  Ny  Eivers,  and  the  ex 
istence  of  these  small  streams  added  immeasurably 
to  the  difficulties  of  offensive  warfare. 

On  May  8th  the  army  marched  toward  Spottsyl- 


WITH  THE  AEMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC    227 

vauia  and  came  near  to  taking  the  strong  works  at 
that  place  without  a  battle.  When  Lee  had  been 
advised  of  the  movement  of  Grant's  trains,  he  at 
once  ordered  Lougstreet's  corps,  now  under  the 
command  of  E.  H.  Anderson,  to  march  to  Spottsyl- 
vania,  thinking  that  Grant  was  making  for  Fred- 
ericksburg  in  order  to  retreat.  Finding  the  woods 
on  fire,  Anderson  pushed  on  to  the  Court  House 
without  resting  en  route,  and  as  a  result  when  the 
Fifth  Corps  reached  Spottsylvania,  it  found  the 
Confederates  already  in  possession.  The  next  day 
was  spent  in  bringing  both  armies  into  position  at 
the  Court  House,  where  Lee  was  protected  by 
elaborate  lines  of  entrenchments  which  took  ad 
vantage  of  every  elevation  of  ground  and  formed  a 
V-shaped  fortress  almost  impregnable  to  ordinary 
assault,  his  rear  being  covered  by  the  Po.  Mean 
while  Sheridan,  after  a  sharp  tiff  with  Meade  over 
his  effectiveness  in  the  Wilderness,  had  cut  loose 
from  the  army  on  the  first  of  his  independent  ex 
peditions  ;  passing  Lee's  right  flank  he  destroyed 
ten  miles  of  railroad  and  large  quantities  of  supplies 
and  eventually  penetrated  to  within  six  miles  of 
Eichmond,  where  at  Yellow  Tavern  he  was  over 
taken  by  "Jeb"  Stuart  with  Lee's  entire  cavalry 
force.  In  the  battle  which  followed  Stuart  was 
killed  and  the  Confederate  horse  overwhelmed  and 
scattered,  Sheridan  even  penetrating  the  outer  line 
of  the  fortifications  of  Eichmond.  Stopping  for  a 
few  days  with  Butler,  he  rejoined  Grant  on  May  24th, 
after  the  most  successful  cavalry  raid  of  the  war. 


228  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

While  Sheridan  was  gathering  laurels  with  his 
new  command,  ten  days  of  sanguinary  fighting  had 
taken  place  at  Spottsylvania.  On  May  9th  and  10th 
there  was  entrenchment,  observation  and  fighting  all 
along  the  line  in  the  course  of  which  General  Sedg- 
wick  was  killed,  being  succeeded  in  the  command 
of  the  Sixth  Corps  by  General  H.  G.  Wright.  At 
one  time  Hancock  on  the  extreme  right  gained  a  posi 
tion  south  of  the  Po  which  threatened  to  turn  Lee's 
flank,  but  it  was  so  isolated  that  he  was  soon  with 
drawn.  On  May  10th  there  were  five  assaults  all 
along  the  line  and  one  party,  led  by  Upton,  even 
penetrated  the  apex  of  Lee's  position,  but  lack  of 
support  compelled  its  withdrawal,  Upton  winning 
a  well-deserved  promotion  conferred  by  Grant  him 
self  on  the  field  of  battle.  The  next  day  Hancock 
was  moved  to  the  centre  and  ordered  to  prepare  for 
a  daybreak  assault  on  the  Confederate  centre — the 
famous  Bloody  Angle. 

In  the  midst  of  this  interminable  fighting  with  its 
ceaseless  demands  upon  the  commanding  general 
for  orders,  supplies  and  organization,  Grant  found 
time  to  send  two  famous  dispatches  to  the  North 
which  gave  proof  of  the  quality  of  the  man  and  the 
determination  of  his  purpose.  Writing  to  Halleck 
on  the  morning  of  May  10th,  reporting  his  position, 
he  said,  "I  shall  take  no  backward  steps."  The 
next  day  in  farewell  to  his  old  friend,  Washburne, 
who  had  been  at  his  headquarters  since  the  begin 
ning  of  the  campaign,  he  gave  him  another  dispatch 
for  Halleck,  written  in  his  own  hand  on  the  field  of 


WITH  THE  AEMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC    229 

battle,  in  which  occurred  the  laconic  expression,  "I 
propose  to  fight  it  out  on  this  line  if  it  takes  all 
summer." 

Hancock  never  displayed  his  leadership  to  greater 
advantage  than  on  the  morning  of  May  12th,  when, 
in  a  drenching  rain,  he  concentrated  his  troops  on 
both  sides  of  the  Angle,  and,  charging  shortly  after 
half-past  four  in  the  darkness  of  the  early  morning, 
led  his  men  over  the  entrenchments  and  in  a  short 
hand-to-hand  grapple,  took  prisoners  practically  all 
of  Johnson's  division  of  E well's  corps,  including 
4,000  men,  thirty  pieces  of  artillery  and  two  general 
officers.  Having  pierced  the  centre  of  Lee's  posi 
tion,  Hancock  charged  over  a  mile  until  he  found 
himself  confronted  by  a  strong  line  of  works  running 
across  the  base  of  the  Angle  to  which  Lee  hurried 
with  reinforcements  gathered  at  every  hand.  Here 
throughout  the  entire  day  the  fighting  continued. 
Lee  failed  in  every  effort  to  retake  the  Angle  and 
Hancock,  even  though  aided  by  Wright,  could  not 
penetrate  the  new  line  of  defense.  At  one  time 
Hancock  was  practically  driven  out  of  the  Angle, 
but  his  men  reformed  on  the  reverse  side  of  the  en 
trenchments  and  soon  compelled  the  enemy  to  with 
draw,  so  that  at  nightfall  the  positions  were  the  same 
as  after  Hancock's  assault.  It  was  the  hardest  and 
closest  fighting  of  the  war,  and  the  cruelest  test  of 
American  manhood. 

In  spite  of  Hancock's  success,  Grant  had  failed  in 
his  main  purpose  to  break  through  Lee's  centre,  so 
as  to  roll  up  his  flanks,  and  destroy  the  fighting 


230  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

morale  of  the  array.  During  the  next  week  the  two 
armies  were  face  to  face  at  Spottsylvania  although  at 
times  the  heavy  rain  interfered  with  operations.  At 
one  time  Grant  moved  two  corps  to  the  left,  thinking 
thereby  to  cause  such  a  concentration  of  his  forces 
as  would  weaken  the  centre,  and  then  the  Second 
Corps  was  hastily  brought  back  to  the  Angle  in  the 
hope  that  it  might  repeat  its  success  of  the  previous 
week  ;  but  Lee  was  on  the  alert  and  this  plan  was 
defeated.  Again,  each  army  had  fought  the  other  to 
a  standstill  and  a  new  plan  was  inevitable. 

Once  more  Grant  determined  to  move  by  the  left 
flank  and  hoping  to  decoy  Lee  from  his  entrench 
ments  to  the  open  field  he  ordered  Hancock  to  march 
first  with  a  gap  of  twenty  miles  between  the  Second 
Corps  and  the  remainder  of  the  army.  In  spite  of 
this  tempting  bait,  Lee  proved  the  character  of  his 
generalship  by  declining  to  do  what  his  adversary 
desired.  A  two  days'  march  brought  the  army  to 
the  banks  of  the  North  Anna  where  they  found  the 
Confederate  Army  strongly  posted  on  the  south  side 
of  the  river  in  two  parallel  lines  of  entrenchments 
with  flanks  perfectly  protected  by  swamp,  thicket 
and  stream.  Hancock  and  Warren  were  successful 
in  effecting  a  crossing  of  the  river,  but  then  found 
themselves  separated  by  Lee's  army  and  blocked  by 
entrenchments  too  strong  to  assault.  It  was  a  danger 
ous  position  for  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  Lee 
could  have  concentrated  for  an  attack  upon  either 
flank  which,  in  order  to  unite  with  the  other,  would 
have  been  obliged  to  cross  the  river  twice  in  the  face 


WITH  THE  ARMY 'OF  THE  POTOMAC    231 

of  the  foe.  Even  Grant  hesitated  to  order  an  assault 
upon  an  impregnable  position  under  these  condi 
tions,  and  finally  decided  to  resume  the  flanking 
movement, — what  the  soldiers  had  learned  to  call 
"  sidling ' '  toward  Kichinond.  In  a  dispatch  to  the 
War  Department  at  this  time  Grant's  confidence  in 
the  outcome  is  fully  shown.  u  Lee's  army  is  really 
whipped,  the  prisoners  we  now  take  show  it,  and 
the  action  of  his  army  shows  it  unmistakably.  A 
battle  with  them  outside  of  entrenchments  cannot 
be  had." 

Withdrawing  his  army  from  its  dangerous  posi 
tion,  he  marched  along  the  north  bank  of  the  river 
to  the  Pamunkey,  where  after  a  hurried  crossing  he 
again  found  himself  faced  by  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia. 

While  Grant  was  battling  with  Lee  in  a  vain 
endeavor  to  force  a  decisive  battle  outside  of  Rich- 
mond,  Butler  had  moved  up  the  James  River  from 
Fortress  Monroe  in  a  flank  attack  on  the  capital  of 
the  Confederacy.  He  had  seized  and  fortified  City 
Point  at  the  mouth  of  the  Appomattox  and  had 
reached  Bermuda  Hundred,  where  he  fortified  him 
self.  Beauregard  was  in  command  of  the  Confeder 
ate  forces  south  of  Richmond  and  at  the  beginning 
of  Butler's  expedition  he  had  but  6,000  men  with 
which  to  oppose  over  30,000.  A  vigorous  offensive 
movement  could  certainly  have  taken  Petersburg 
and  probably  Richmond,  but  Butler  moved  so 
leisurely  that  Beauregard  had  ample  opportunity  to 
bring  up  from  the  South  heavy  reinforcements  with 


232  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

which  to  block  the  movement.  A  battle  was  fought 
near  Drewry's  Bluff  on  May  16th,  after  which 
Butler  withdrew  to  his  fortifications  at  Bermuda 
Hundred  where  safe  in  a  peninsula  he  was  "  bottled 
up  "  by  a  much  inferior  force. 

Eealizing  the  ineffectiveness  of  this  campaign, 
Grant  ordered  the  Eighteenth  Corps  under  General 
W.  F.  Smith  to  cross  the  James  and  to  join  Meade 
at  Cold  Harbor,  where  on  June  1st  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  had  concentrated.  Here  Lee  had  pre 
pared  elaborate  lines  of  fortifications  about  six  miles 
in  extent  from  the  Chickahorniuy  on  the  right  to  a 
series  of  swamps  on  the  left.  Grant  determined 
upon  a  frontal  assault,  and  of  all  his  military  opera 
tions,  this  determination  has  been  most  severely  and 
justly  criticized.  His  reasoning  is  easy  to  under 
stand  :  Lee  was  now  within  reach  of  the  fortifica 
tions  of  Eichmond  which  was  but  a  few  miles  away. 
If  his  lines  could  have  been  broken  at  this  point,  a 
decisive  victory  would  probably  have  ended  the  war. 
On  the  other  hand,  a  frontal  assault  upon  fortified 
lines,  well -manned  with  artillery  so  that  almost 
every  section  was  covered  by  cross-fires,  and  pro 
tected  by  a  devoted  army  under  an  invincible  chief, 
could  only  result  in  failure.  The  soldiers  realized 
the  desperation  of  the  situation  and  nothing  in  the 
history  of  warfare  is  more  tragic  than  the  story  of 
how  these  devoted  men  spent  the  night  before  the 
battle  in  writing  their  names  and  addresses  on  slips 
of  paper  which  were  then  sewed  into  their  blouses. 
The  battle  was  fought  without  any  systematic  plan 


WITH  THE  ABMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC    233 

and  almost  without  any  reconnaissance  of  the 
enemy's  lines.  For  six  hours  on  the  morning  of 
June  3d  the  various  corps  commanders  endeavored 
to  reach  the  lines  before  them  but  with  very  little 
success,  and  when  the  day's  fighting  was  over  the 
Army  of  the  Potomac  had  lost  almost  10,000  men 
and  had  inflicted  a  loss  of  about  one-tenth  of 
that  number.  In  his  "Memoirs,"  Grant  frankly 
admitted  his  mistake, — "I  have  always  regretted 
that  the  last  assault  at  Cold  Harbor  was  ever 
made." 

It  was  full  time  to  consider  a  change  of  plan.  One 
month  of  constant  hammering  had  cost  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac  about  50,000  men,  and  while  there 
had  been  heavy  reinforcements,  yet  there  can  be  no 
question  but  that  the  vigor  of  the  army  was  seriously 
impaired.  Those  who  had  perished  were  veterans, 
while  the  newcomers  were  in  some  cases  raw  and 
untrained,  and  unable  to  accommodate  themselves 
to  the  physical  hardships  of  a  soldier's  life.  More 
over  there  had  been  a  heavy  mortality  among 
officers  and  the  men  were  no  longer  led  with  the 
dash  and  vigor  of  the  earlier  days  of  the  campaign. 
The  army  needed  rest,  and,  realizing  its  condition, 
Grant  determined  to  march  south  of  the  James  with 
out  another  battle. 

While  the  two  armies  were  facing  each  other  at 
Cold  Harbor,  Hunter  had  led  a  strong  column 
down  the  Shenandoah  Valley  and,  after  some  minor 
successes,  threatened  Lyuchburg,  an  important 
depot  of  supplies  in  western  Virginia.  To  meet 


234  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

this  unexpected  invasion,  Lee  sent  Breckinridge  and 
Early  to  regain  control  of  the  Valley.  Hunter, 
having  exhausted  his  ammunition,  retreated  to 
West  Virginia,  thus  leaving  the  way  open  for  a 
Valley  campaign.  Meanwhile  Grant  had  moved 
his  army  across  the  Chickahorniuy  to  the  James, 
where  in  eight  hours  his  engineers  constructed 
a  bridge  of  101  pontoons  over  a  river  2,100  feet 
wide. 

There  can  be  no  question  but  that  Lee  was 
completely  outgeneraled  by  this  last  flanking  move 
ment,  and  indeed  for  three  days  he  lost  his  foe. 
Expecting  an  advance  on  Eichmond,  south  of  the 
Chickahominy,  Lee  held  his  army  north  of  the 
James.  But  Grant  had  crossed  both  rivers  and 
had  directed  Smith  to  make  a  sudden  attack  upon 
Petersburg,  the  important  railroad  centre  to  the 
south  of  Eichmoud,  which  was  then  held  by  but 
2,500  Confederates.  On  June  15th  Smith  made  his 
attack  and  gained  some  success.  In  the  evening 
Hancock,  who  had  been  not  properly  advised  as  to 
the  urgency  of  the  operation,  brought  up  the  Second 
Corps.  It  was  fortunate  for  the  Confederacy  that 
Beauregard  recognized  the  emergency,  even  if  Lee 
did  not.  During  the  night  of  June  15th  he  stripped 
Eichmoud  of  its  soldiers  and  with  Hoke's  division 
from  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  assembled 
14,000  men  for  the  defense  of  Petersburg.  On  June 
16th,  17ch  and  18th,  there  was  a  series  of  vicious 
assaults,  but  again  the  entrenchments  were  a  safe 
bulwark  to  the  Confederates.  By  this  time  Lee, 


WITH  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC    235 

realizing  that  his  enemy  had  passed  south  of  the 
James,  brought  his  own  army  south  of  Richmond 
and  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  was  again  face  to 
face  with  its  old  foe,  and  once  more  all  advantages 
of  position  were  with  the  latter.  Grant  now 
abandoned  the  policy  of  frontal  attacks  and  in 
stead  prepared  lines  of  entrenchments  for  a  regular 
siege. 

There  can  be  little  question  but  that  the  results 
of  the  campaign  thus  far  achieved  were  as  disap 
pointing  to  Grant  as  to  the  North.  By  his  record 
as  well  as  the  gigantic  preparations  for  the  spring 
campaign,  public  opinion  had  been  led  to  expect 
that  there  would  soon  be  a  sweeping  and  decisive 
victory  which  would  end  the  struggle.  Instead  of 
the  fulfilment  of  this  expectation,  there  had  been 
many  indecisive  conflicts  and  much  slaughter,  and 
in  the  end  Lee  seemed  as  unconquerable  as  ever,  and 
had  only  been  forced  to  the  position  where  McClellan 
had  found  him  two  years  before.  "  The  immense 
slaughter  of  our  brave  men  chills  and  sickens  us 
all,"  wrote  Gideon  Welles  in  his  diary,  the  day 
before  the  battle  of  Cold  Harbor.  "  The  hospitals 
are  crowded  with  the  thousands  of  mutilated  and 
dying  heroes  who  have  poured  out  their  blood  for 
the  Union  cause."  Two  months  later  the  Secretary 
confessed  to  an  awakening  apprehension  that  Grant 
is  not  equal  to  his  task.  "  God  grant  that  I  may 
be  mistaken,  for  the  slaughtered  thousands  of  my 
countrymen  who  have  poured  out  their  rich  blood 
for  three  months  on  the  soil  of  Virginia  from  the 


236  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

Wilderness  to  Petersburg  under  his  generalship  can 
never  be  atoned  in  this  world  or  the  next  if  he 
without  Sherman  prove  a  failure/' 

This  increasing  wave  of  criticism  was  based  upon 
the  conviction  that  Grant  did  not  know  how  to 
manoeuvre  and  that  his  strategy  was  confined  to  the 
use  of  brute  force.  To  the  unthinking,  there  was 
abundant  reason  for  this  attitude  in  the  succession 
of  frontal  assaults  upon  entrenchments,  but  the 
intelligent  student  of  military  history  will  find  in 
these  seven  weeks  of  continuous  fighting  ample 
evidence  of  a  strategy  which  came  many  times  near 
to  complete  success.  This  campaign  might  almost 
be  characterized  as  a  series  of  unfulfilled  possibilities. 
Thus  at  the  Wilderness,  if  Burn  side  had  arrived  at 
the  dawn  of  the  second  day,  who  can  doubt  but  that 
Hancock's  attack  would  have  overwhelmed  Hill 
before  Longstreet  had  arrived.  Again,  at  Spottsyl- 
vania,  with  proper  information  of  the  nature  of  the 
ground,  Hancock's  position  south  of  the  Po  might 
have  developed  into  a  grand  flanking  movement 
which  would  have  forced  Lee  into  the  open.  Even 
at  Cold  Harbor,  where  Grant's  strategy  was  much 
criticized  by  his  subordinates,  it  is  authoritatively 
stated  that  Lee  had  not  a  single  regiment  in  reserve, 
and  if  his  lines  had  been  pierced  he  probably  would 
have  been  disastrously  routed.  It  was  to  the  Army 
of  the  James,  however,  that  the  greatest  oppor 
tunities  were  presented  and  wasted  ;  in  May,  Butler 
had  the  advantage  of  a  complete  surprise  and  for 
two  days  Richmond  was  practically  in  his  grasp. 


WITH  THE  AKMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC    237 

Again  in  June,  by  all  the  canons  of  warfare,  Peters 
burg  should  have  been  taken  without  the  delay  and 
slaughter  of  a  nine  months'  siege. 

These  continued  breakdowns  of  well-conceived 
plans  suggest  that  Grant  was  not  receiving  the 
proper  support  from  his  subordinates,  and  there  is 
strong  reason  to  believe  that  the  Army  of  the 
Potomac,  in  spite  of  the  fine  patriotism  and  courage 
of  the  rank  and  file,  had  not  yet  learned  how  to  pull 
together.  Many  of  the  generals  were  in  close  touch 
with  leading  Senators  and  Eepresentatives  and  the 
previous  traditions  of  their  service  had  bred  feelings 
of  jealousy  where  there  should  have  been  coopera 
tion  and  friendship.  When  in  the  middle  of  this 
campaign,  General  James  H.  Wilson  arrived  at 
headquarters  from  the  West,  he  frankly  told  Grant 
that  in  his  judgment  it  would  be  a  good  thing  if 
Parker,  the  Indian  aide,  could  scalp  a  dozen  major- 
generals.1  After  Cold  Harbor,  Wilson  narrates 
how  Upton,  one  of  the  most  brilliant  fighters  of  the 
army,  said  to  him  :  "  I  am  sorry  to  say  I  have  seen 
but  little  generalship  during  the  campaign.  Some 
of  the  corps  commanders  are  not  fit  to  be  corporals. 
Lazy  and  indifferent,  they  will  not  even  ride  along 
their  lines  ;  yet,  without  hesitancy,  they  will  order 
us  to  attack  the  enemy,  no  matter  what  their  posi 
tion  and  numbers."  This  comment  aids  in  the 
understanding  of  Grant's  dependence  upon  Hancock 
and  Sheridan  for  offensive  operations.  In  his  pre- 


"  Under  the  Old  Flag,"  by  James  Harrison  Wilson,  Vol. 
I,  p.  400. 


238  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

vious  experiences  in  the  West,  he  had  always  trusted 
details  to  his  subordinates,  sketching  the  general 
orders  and  then  relying  upon  his  commanders, — and 
these  two  now  proved  themselves  most  capable  in 
independent  command. 

Again  there  was  notorious  ill-feeling  among  many 
of  the  generals.  Meade,  whose  temper  was  never  of 
the  easiest,  was  so  exhausted  by  the  responsibilities 
of  his  position  that  he  was  on  ill  terms  with  almost 
every  one  except  Grant,  and  at  times  his  irritability 
lest  Sheridan  should  gain  a  promotion  over  himself 
brought  an  unusual  strain  even  into  the  headquarters. 
Butler  had  quarreled  with  both  of  his  corps  com 
manders,  whom  he  blamed  for  the  failure  of  his 
operations.  The  summer  of  1864  was  the  gloomiest 
period  in  the  history  of  the  war  for  the  Union. 
The  successive  discouragements  affected  the  money- 
market  and  when  the  price  of  gold,  in  July,  touched 
285,  it  evidenced  the  sensitiveness  of  the  financial 
barometer.  Lincoln  had  been  renomiuated  for  the 
Presidency,  but  there  was  disaffection  in  his 
Cabinet  and  a  strong  feeling  even  among  his  sup 
porters  that  he  could  not  be  reelected  ;  Sherman 
had  not  yet  succeeded  in  his  Atlanta  cam 
paign  ;  foreign  complications,  especially  in  Mex 
ico,  had  culminated  in  the  French  invasion,  and 
there  was  an  increasing  conviction  that  with  all 
these  dangers  the  great  republic  was  on  the  verge 
of  disintegration. 

Amid  all  these  problems,  Grant  steadfastly  pursued 
the  course  he  had  marked  out  for  himself.  With 


WITH  THE  ARMY  OF  THE  POTOMAC    239 

few  complaints  and  with  a  complete  absence  of  the 
bitterness  that  characterized  McClellan's  dealings 
with  the  government,  concealing  his  disappoint 
ment  at  the  failure  of  his  plans  he  pursued  his  one 
chief  object, — the  destruction  of  the  military  power 
of  the  Confederacy.  Ehodes  concludes  that  at  this 
time  his  misfortunes  drove  him  again  to  excessive 
drink  and  there  is  at  least  much  army  gossip  which 
points  in  that  direction.  General  Smith,  whose 
ability  fitted  him  for  high  command  but  whose 
quarrelsome  disposition  proved  his  incapacity  to 
pull  in  harness,  has  charged  that  Butler  supplied 
Grant  with  drink  and  thereby  obtained  a  secret  hold 
which  was  used  to  secure  his  retention  in  command 
of  the  Army  of  the  James.  It  is  certain  that  Grant 
issued  orders  relieving  Butler  and  giving  his  post  to 
Smith,  and  that  afterward,  upon  Butler's  insistent 
demand,  the  order  was  revoked  and  Smith  sent  to 
the  rear.  The  evidence  at  hand,  however,  points  to 
an  entirely  different  reason  for  this  revocation. 
The  immediate  necessity  was  for  the  reelection  of 
Lincoln  which  was  far  more  important  than  even 
military  success,  and  it  is  evident  that  if  Butler,  an 
aggressive  leader  of  the  War  Democracy,  had  been 
sent  home  in  disgrace,  it  would  have  added  tremen 
dously  to  the  political  difficulties  of  the  administra 
tion.  A  mere  hint  from  Lincoln,  to  whom  Grant 
was  now  most  loyally  attached,  would  account  for  a 
reversal  of  the  order  far  better  than  a  1 1  secret  hold, " 
and  this  theory  is  further  substantiated  by  the  fact 
that  six  months  later,  after  the  election,  when  the 


240  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

necessity  for  caution  no  longer  existed,  Butler  was 
removed  from  command.1 

It  was  a  dark  hour  in  the  history  of  the  Kepublic, 
but  fortunately  the  dawn  was  near. 

JSee  George  M.  Wolfson,  "  Butler's  Relations  with  Grant  and 
the  Army  of  the  Jauies  in  1864"  in  South  Atlantic  Quarterly, 
October,  1911. 


CHAPTEE  XI 

PETERSBURG  AND  APPOMATTOX 

"I  BEGIN  to  see  it.  You  will  succeed.  God 
bless  you  all. ' 7  Such  was  the  message  of  Lincoln 
to  his  trusted  general,  when  he  learned  of  the 
crossing  of  the  James.  It  marks  the  beginning  of 
the  second  stage  of  Grant's  campaign  against  Lee, 
in  which  the  object  and  methods  were  widely  differ 
ent  from  the  earlier  ones.  If  Grant  could  not  win 
a  decisive  victory  outside  of  Eichmond  and  so 
destroy  the  fighting  power  of  the  enemy,  then 
obviously  the  proper  course  of  action  was  to  hold 
Eichmond  and  Lee's  army  in  a  vise-like  grip  while 
the  other  armies  of  the  Union  conquered  the  sources 
of  supplies  and  contracting,  like  the  anaconda, 
would  eventually  strangle  the  Confederacy.  This 
was  the  policy  of  the  next  nine  months,  and  that  it 
was  carried  on  with  so  complete  a  success  must  be 
attributed  to  the  quality  of  Grant's  patriotism  which 
made  him  willing  to  endure  criticism  and  reproach, 
while  his  subordinates  were  winning  laurels  for 
themselves  in  environing  fields  of  action. 

Petersburg  is  an  outpost  of  Eichmond,  located 
twenty-two  miles  to  the  south,  on  the  lower  bank  of 
the  Appomattox,  which  is  navigable  for  large 
vessels  up  to  that  point.  At  this  time  it  had  a 


242  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

population  of  less  than  twenty  thousand,  but  its 
importance  was  derived  from  the  fact  that  it  was  a 
railroad  centre.  From  the  east  came  the  Norfolk 
and  Petersburg  Eailroad  now  under  Union  control, 
but  from  the  south  came  the  important  Weldon 
Eailroad  connecting  with  Ealeigh,  Goldsboro  and 
Wilmington,  the  latter  one  of  the  few  remaining 
Atlantic  ports  available  for  blockade-runners  with 
their  much-needed  supplies  ;  to  the  west  ran  the 
Southside  Eailroad  to  Lynchburg,  and  the  food  for 
the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  as  well  as  the  city 
of  Eichmoud,  was  brought  in  large  measure  over 
these  two  roads.  In  addition  to  the  connecting 
railroad  from  Petersburg  there  were  two  other  rail 
roads  to  Eichmond,  still  under  Confederate  control  ; 
one  ran  southwest  to  Danville  and  Greensboro, 
crossing  the  Southside  Eailroad  at  Burkesville,  and 
the  other  ran  northwest  to  Gordonsville,  connecting 
with  the  rich  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah.  It  was 
evident  that  the  cutting  of  these  railroads  meant 
famine  in  Eichmoud  and  eventually  surrender,  and 
the  strategy  of  the  concluding  campaigns  is  based 
upon  an  appreciation  of  this  situation. 

In  the  opening  months  of  the  siege,  both  armies 
were  reduced  in  numbers.  Although  Lee  had 
received  heavy  reinforcements  during  his  retreat 
south  and  had  now  united  with  Beauregard,  he  had 
detached  over  25,000  men  for  operations  in  the 
Sheuandoah  under  Early,  and  there  were  times 
when  the  total  force  under  his  immediate  command 
was  less  than  50,000.  Likewise  Grant  had  been 


PETEESBUEG  AND  APPOMATTOX    243 

compelled  to  provide  for  the  defense  of  Washington 
and  eventually  for  an  offensive  movement  under 
Sheridan,  so  as  to  reduce  his  main  army  to  less  than 
90,000.  Notwithstanding  the  exhaustion  of  his 
forces,  he  was  not  content  with  the  slow  processes 
of  siege.  The  week  after  the  assault  on  Petersburg, 
the  Second  and  Sixth  Corps  were  moved  to  the  left 
in  an  effort  to  cut  the  Weldon  road,  but  this  move 
ment  was  not  well  conducted  and  Hill  thrust  him 
self  between  the  two  corps  inflicting  considerable 
loss.  At  the  same  time,  Wilson  led  two  cavalry 
divisions  around  Petersburg  and  destroyed  large 
sections  of  the  Weldon,  Lynchburg  and  Southside 
Eailroads.  Further  offensive  operations  were 
blocked  by  the  heat  of  midsummer  ;  for  a  period  of 
forty-six  days  there  was  no  rain  and  the  soldiers 
suffered  greatly. 

It  was  at  this  time  that  Lieutenant- Colonel  Henry 
Pleasants,  of  the  Ninth  Corps,  conceived  the  idea  of 
a  mine  for  the  purpose  of  forcing  an  opening  in  the 
entrenchments  of  Petersburg.  His  regiment  was 
composed  in  large  measure  of  miners  of  the  Schuyl- 
kill  region.  For  four  weeks  his  men  were  engaged  in 
constructing  a  vast  gallery,  over  510  feet  in  length, 
with  branch  galleries  under  the  Confederate  lines 
containing  eight  magazines,  each  with  1,000  pounds 
of  powder.  As  the  work  was  in  front  of  the  Ninth 
Corps,  Burnside  was  placed  in  charge  of  the  opera 
tion.  Originally  he  selected  Ferrero's  negro  division 
to  make  the  assault,  but  as  these  troops  were  raw, 
this  arrangement  was  not  approved  by  Meade  and 


244  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

Grant.  By  the  singular  device  of  the  lot  among 
the  other  division  commanders,  Burnside  then  se 
lected  Ledlie's  division  for  the  charge,  a  choice 
which  proved  an  evil  chance.  Meanwhile  Grant 
had  sent  the  Second  Corps  with  the  cavalry  to  the 
north  side  of  the  James  intending  to  divert  Lee's 
attention  from  the  point  of  attack.  After  some 
heavy  skirmishing,  the  Second  Corps  returned  to 
the  lines  of  Petersburg  in  time  to  assist  in  the 
assault.  The  Confederate  engineers  anticipated  an 
attack  by  mining,  but  their  counter-mine  was  on  a 
different  level  from  the  gallery  of  attack,  and  so  the 
plan  was  not  discovered. 

It  was  intended  to  spring  the  mine  at  half-past 
three  on  the  morning  of  July  30th,  but  a  defect  in 
the  fuse  delayed  the  operation  until  two  brave 
officers  entered  the  gallery  and  changed  the  splicing. 
It  was  twenty  minutes  of  five  when  the  explosion 
occurred,  making  a  crater  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  long,  sixty  feet  wide  and  twenty-five  feet  deep, 
located  about  one  hundred  yards  from  Burnside' s 
line.  Up  to  this  moment  the  plan  was  completely 
successful  ;  not  only  were  the  lines  broken,  but  also 
the  battery,  and  three  hundred  men  in  Elliott's 
salient  had  been  buried  in  the  debris.  For  a  time 
the  unexpectedness  of  the  blow  had  paralyzed  the 
defenders.  This  was  the  time  for  vigorous  offensive 
operations.  It  was  expected  that  Ledlie  would 
lead  his  men  through  the  opening  and  take  pos 
session  of  Cemetery  Hill  beyond,  an  elevation 
which  commanded  Petersburg. 


PETERSBURG  AND  APPOMATTOX    245 

But  Ledlie  did  not  accompany  his  division  and  was 
in  no  position  to  give  directions  to  his  men.  The 
assaulting  column  rushed  into  the  crater  and  stayed 
.there  for  over  an  hour  without  formation  or  leader 
ship.  While  this  mass  of  men  was  huddled  in  and 
about  the  opening  which  engineering  skill  had 
made,  the  great  opportunity  was  passing.  Lee  had 
brought  up  reinforcements  in  men  and  artillery 
and  had  reformed  his  position  in  the  rear  so  as 
to  make  it  unassailable.  Eventually  Grant  went 
in  person  and  on  foot  to  the  scene  of  the  assault 
and  found  so  much  disorder  and  confusion  and 
so  little  perception  of  the  next  thing  to  be  done, 
that  he  ordered  the  column  to  withdraw.  Another 
golden  chance  was  thus  wasted,  this  time  at  the  cost 
of  3,500  men,  and  one  of  the  most  wisely  conceived 
enterprises  of  the  siege  was  brought  to  naught.  The 
practical  effect  of  this  disaster  was  the  retirement 
of  Burnside  and  Ledlie  from  active  command,  and  in 
the  later  stages  of  the  campaign,  the  Ninth  Corps 
was  commanded  by  General  John  G.  Parke. 

During  the  next  four  months  public  interest 
centered  in  the  Valley  of  the  Shenandoah.  At  the 
time  of  the  grand  advance  in  May,  as  a  collateral 
movement,  Sigel  had  led  a  column  southward  in  the 
Valley,  which  had  been  defeated  at  Newmarket. 
General  Hunter  was  then  appointed  in  his  place  and 
in  June  he  advanced  with  some  success,  defeating  a 
strong  force  of  Confederates  under  Jones  at  Pied 
mont,  and  threatening  Lynchburg.  To  save  this 
important  city,  Lee  had  detached  Early  from  his 


246  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

main  army  at  Cold  Harbor  and  Hunter,  who 
had  exhausted  his  ammunition,  retreated  to  West 
Virginia.  This  exposed  the  fertile  Valley  of  the 
Shenandoah  to  the  Confederates  and  Early  at  once 
started  toward  the  Potomac  upon  what  proved  to 
be  the  last  invasion  of  the  North.  It  was  Lee's 
hope  that  this  invasion,  like  that  of  Jackson  two 
years  earlier,  would  lead  to  the  detachment  of  so 
much  of  Grant's  army  as  would  compel  him  to 
retire  from  before  Richmond  ;  or  else  would  force 
another  hurried  attack  upon  impregnable  fortifica 
tions  in  the  vain  desire  to  hasten  a  conclusion  of  the 
struggle.  That  he  did  not  succeed  in  either  of  these 
plans  may  be  attributed  to  the  indomitable  temper 
of  his  opponent.  But  the  audacity  of  the  move 
ment  and  its  early  successes  aroused  all  the  latent 
appreheosiveness  of  the  North. 

In  the  first  week  of  July,  Early  crossed  the 
Potomac  seizing  abundant  provisions  and  laying 
the  rich  towns  of  Maryland  under  requisitions  of 
money  and  supplies.  At  the  Mouocacy  Eiver,  he 
overwhelmed  a  small  force  under  General  Lew 
Wallace  who  was  defending  the  road  to  Baltimore, 
and  pushing  south  on  July  llth  he  came  within 
striking  distance  of  Washington.  The  capital  had 
been  stripped  of  defenders  for  Grant's  campaign,  and 
there  were  only  raw  levies  and  home  guards  for  its 
defense,  but  when  Grant  learned  of  Early 's  invasion, 
he  had  ordered  the  Sixth  Corps  to  the  North  and 
also  the  Nineteenth  Corps  which  had  been  oper 
ating  in  the  West.  Fortunately  these  veteran  di- 


PETEKSBUKG  AND  APPOMATTOX    247 

visions  arrived  on  the  same  day  that  Early 
approached  the  capital  by  the  Eockville  road. 
In  the  presence  of  this  overwhelming  force,  the 
Confederates  retreated  westward  and  across  the 
Potomac,  but  their  cavalry  continued  a  series  of 
damaging  raids  in  one  of  which  McCausland  burnt 
the  beautiful  town  of  Chambersburg.  Meanwhile, 
there  were  enough  soldiers  in  Maryland  to  have 
overwhelmed  Early' s  entire  army,  but  they  were 
divided  among  four  military  departments  and  there 
was  little  cooperation  among  their  commanders. 
The  emergency  brought  Grant  from  Petersburg  and 
after  a  hasty  review  of  the  situation,  he  consolidated 
all  of  the  forces  of  the  Shenandoah,  making  a  work 
ing  force  of  22,000  infantry  and  8,000  cavalry  with 
Sheridan  in  sole  control. 

This  happy  inspiration  brought  into  independent 
command  one  of  the  few  born  soldiers  of  the  war. 
It  is  difficult  to  imagine  Sheridan  anywhere  but  in 
the  saddle,  where  his  courage,  fire  and  sagacity  made 
him  an  invincible  leader.  After  six  weeks  of  pre 
liminary  maneuvering  he  won  a  decisive  victory 
at  the  Opequon  on  September  19th.  "  We  have 
just  sent  them  whirling  through  Winchester,  and 
we  are  after  them  to-morrow"  was  his  message  an 
nouncing  the  victory.  Three  days  later  at  Fisher's 
Hill  he  won  another  battle,  of  which  sixty  guns  and 
a  thousand  prisoners  were  the  trophies.  Upon  re 
ceipt  of  the  tidings  of  these  disasters,  Lee  detached 
Kershaw's  division  and  a  strong  force  of  cavalry 
from  his  own  weakened  army  in  order  to  reinforce 


248  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

Early.  After  his  victories  Sheridan  had  encamped 
his  men  at  Cedar  Creek,  and  had  been  instructed  to 
make  arrangements  for  the  return  of  the  Sixth  Corps 
to  Petersburg.  On  October  15th  the  business  of  his 
department  took  him  to  Washington  for  consulta 
tion,  and  Early,  although  ignorant  of  the  absence  of 
his  opponent,  determined  to  attack  with  his  increased 
forces  during  this  time. 

At  half-past  four  on  the  morning  of  October  19th 
the  Confederate  army  burst  upon  the  camp  at  Cedar 
Creek  and  in  a  few  minutes  the  surprise  was  com 
plete.  Crook's  division  and  the  Nineteenth  Corps 
were  forced  out  of  their  camps  before  they  had 
formed  in  line  of  battle,  and  while  the  Sixth  Corps 
retained  its  formation  it  could  do  little  more  than 
cover  the  retreat.  By  nine  o'clock  Early  had  won 
a  complete  victory  and  was  in  possession  of  the 
Union  camps  with  over  1,400  prisoners.  Sheridan 
had  spent  the  previous  night  at  Winchester,  twelve 
miles  away,  and  being  aroused  by  the  sounds  of 
cannon  he  rode  out  at  once  to  the  field  of  battle. 
Nothing  in  military  history  is  more  dramatic  than 
the  concluding  incidents  of  the  day.  Eallying  the 
fugitives  and  appealing  to  the  stragglers,  he  brought 
them  back  to  the  battle-line  which  was  still  gallantly 
maintained  by  Wright  with  the  Sixth  Corps.  Ee- 
formiug  his  men  and  taking  advantage  of  the 
disorder  of  his  enemy,  some  of  whom  had  been 
plundering  the  captured  camps  in  a  search  after 
much-needed  clothing,  he  led  his  troops  once  more 
to  the  attack  and,  in  the  late  afternoon,  regained 


PETERSBURG  AND  APPOMATTOX    249 

not  only  the  captured  cannon  but  also  a  large  por 
tion  of  the  guns  of  the  enemy. 

This  sweeping  victory  ended  the  hard  fighting  in 
the  Valley  and  a  few  weeks  later  the  remnants  of 
Early' s  discouraged  infantry  were  transferred  to 
Richmond.  After  destroying  the  supplies  in  the 
Valley,  Sheridan  sent  the  Sixth  Corps  to  Grant.  In 
February  he  marched  up  the  Valley  with  10,000 
cavalry  and  after  defeating  Early 's  weakened  force 
at  Waynesboro,  and  destroying  the  railroad  he  rode 
around  Richmond  and  rejoined  Grant  in  time  to 
participate  in  the  closing  campaign. 

Sheridan's  experience  is  an  apt  illustration  of  the 
complete  success  of  Grant's  extensive  plans  for  the 
conclusion  of  the  war.  In  August,  Farragut  had 
made  a  brilliant  attack  upon  the  forts  of  Mobile 
Bay,  thereby  closing  the  harbor.  In  the  next  month 
Sherman  marched  around  Atlanta  and  in  several 
pitched  battles  so  completely  defeated  Hood,  who 
had  succeeded  Johnston,  that  on  September  3d 
Washington  was.  electrified  with  the  message : 
"Atlanta  is  ours,  and  fairly  won."  These  vic 
tories  were  the  visible  proof  of  the  success  of  the 
war  and  in  November  Lincoln  was  triumphantly  re- 
elected,  having  carried  all  of  the  Northern  states 
except  New  Jersey,  Delaware  and  Kentucky.  After 
taking  Atlanta,  Sherman  sent  Thomas  back  to  Ten 
nessee  in  order  to  watch  Hood  who  was  contemplat 
ing  a  Northern  invasion,  and  with  60,000  men,  the 
picked  soldiers  of  the  West,  he  severed  his  com 
munication  with  the  North  and  led  his  men  through 


250  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

Georgia,  taking  Savannah  on  December  22d  and 
thus  piercing  the  Confederacy.  The  Western  cam 
paign  culminated  in  the  middle  of  December,  when 
Thomas  at  Nashville  not  only  defeated  Hood,  but 
so  overwhelmed  his  army  that  it  practically  disap 
peared  as  an  aggressive  force. 

While  Sherman  and  Sheridan  were  winning  the 
victories  which  made  certain  Lincoln's  reelection, 
Grant  held  Lee  and  his  army  in  the  lines  from 
Petersburg  to  Eichmond.  He  was  not  idle  during 
these  six  months,  but  the  condition  of  his  army  and 
the  large  detachment  necessary  for  Sheridan's  suc 
cess  made  impossible  a  strong  oifensive  campaign. 
Moreover,  it  must  not  be  forgotten  that  Grant's 
command  of  all  the  armies  of  the  Union  made  great 
demands  upon  both  his  time  and  his  energy.  As 
Sheridan's  army  was  within  his  own  circle  of  opera 
tions,  he  gave  a  close  oversight  to  this  general. 
When  Sherman  recommended  the  march  to  the  sea 
it  was  to  Grant  that  he  looked  for  the  requisite  au 
thority  and  support.  When  weather  conditions 
forced  Thomas  to  hesitate  before  attacking  Hood, 
Grant,  dreading  another  invasion  of  Kentucky,  hur 
ried  to  Washington  and  dispatched  Logan  to  take 
command, — a  change  which  fortunately  was  averted 
by  Thomas's  complete  success.  Without  detracting 
in  the  slightest  degree  from  the  reputation  of  these 
great  lieutenants,  it  is  but  just  that  some  measure  of 
the  credit  for  their  decisive  victories  should  be  given 
to  the  commander  in  whose  far-seeing  plans  they  had 
leading  parts. 


PETEESBUEG  AND  APPOMATTOX    251 

During  the  autumn  of  1864  and  the  succeeding 
winter  the  plan  of  operations  at  Petersburg  was  easy 
to  understand.  Lee  held  strong  lines  of  entrench 
ments  about  thirty  miles  in  extent,  so  as  to  cover  the 
railroads  as  well  as  the  two  cities.  Without  attack 
ing  the  entrenchments,  as  opportunity  offered,  Grant 
sent  out  flanking  expeditions  both  to  the  North  and 
to  the  South,  intent  upon  stretching  Lee's  lines  to 
the  breaking  point.  In  August  Hancock  crossed 
the  James  and  threatened  the  forts  surrounding 
Richmond.  At  the  same  time  Warren  led  the  Fifth 
Corps  around  to  the  south  and  seized  a  portion 
of  the  Weldon  Eoad.  In  the  next  month  Ord 
was  moved  north  of  the  James  and  captured  Fort 
Harrison.  At  the  same  time  Warren  and  Parke 
led  another  expedition  around  the  left  flank  and 
captured  some  entrenchments  there.  These  move 
ments  not  only  extended  the  Union  line  but  pre 
vented  the  detachment  of  reinforcements  to  Early, 
and  thus  contributed  to  the  success  of  Sheridan's 
campaign. 

Late  in  October  a  strong  force  was  sent  around 
to  the  left  in  an  attempt  to  seize  the  Southside  Rail 
road,  then  the  only  Confederate  railroad  to  Peters 
burg,  but  Lee  massed  so  heavily  on  his  right  to  de 
feat  this  movement  that  after  a  brisk  engagement 
at  Hatcher's  Run,  Grant  ordered  the  withdrawal  of 
the  expedition.  During  the  winter  there  was  ample 
opportunity  for  rest  and  the  drilling  of  raw  recruits. 
Thousands  of  the  slightly  wounded  returned  to  the 
army  and  the  success  in  other  fields  gave  oppor- 


252  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

tunity  for  reinforcements  from  the  pacified  sections. 
Gradually  the  inevitable  success  of  Grant's  plan 
became  apparent  and  the  fate  of  Eichmond  was 
certain. 

The  once  powerful  Confederacy  was  tottering  to 
its  fall.  It  was  not  so  much  because  of  lack  of  men 
as  the  exhaustion  of  supplies  and  the  means  of 
transportation.  The  patient  and  efficient  work  of 
the  Federal  navy  had  so  maintained  the  blockade 
that  the  necessaries  of  warfare  could  not  be  obtained 
from  abroad,  and  the  lack  of  manufacturing  facili 
ties  in  the  South  made  it  impossible  to  supply  the 
need  from  domestic  production.  One  of  "Jeb" 
Stuart's  men  has  said  that  there  were  but  four  com 
modities  "with  which  the  South  was  plentifully 
supplied,  viz.,  tobacco,  cotton,  money  and  horses.'7 
Money  was  supplied  by  printing  presses  of  the  Con 
federacy,  while  the  others  were  native  products  of 
the  soil.  The  destruction  of  the  lines  of  transpor 
tation  and  the  difficulties  of  obtaining  rails,  loco 
motives  and  cars  had  led  to  a  breakdown  in  the 
commissary  department.  When  Sherman  marched 
through  Georgia,  planning  to  live  from  the  country, 
his  men  found  it  a  land  of  plenty,  but  meanwhile 
Lee's  heroic  army  was  almost  starving  in  the 
trenches  at  Petersburg.  Gradually  the  narrowing 
lines  of  the  armies  for  the  Union  forced  extreme 
privation  upon  the  contracted  area  of  the  Confed 
eracy.  During  its  last  winter  sugar  was  $20  a 
pound,  flour  from  $500  to  $1,000  per  barrel  and  a 
pair  of  boots  cost  $200.  Even  at  Lee's  table  meat 


PETEKSBURG  AND  APPOMATTOX    253 

was  served  but  twice  a  week  and  the  general  fare 
was  boiled  cabbage,  sweet  potatoes  and  corn  pone. 

Grant  early  recognized  that  the  Confederacy  was 
being  starved  out.  Writing  to  Washburne  on 
August  16,  1864,  he  said  :  ' '  The  rebels  have  now  in 
their  ranks  their  last  men.  The  little  boys  and  old 
men  are  guarding  prisoners,  railroad  bridges,  and 
forming  a  good  part  of  their  garrisons  for  entrenched 
positions.  A  man  lost  by  them  cannot  be  replaced. 
They  have  robbed  the  cradle  and  the  grave  equally 
to  get  their  present  force.  Besides  what  they  lose 
in  frequent  skirmishes  and  battles,  they  are  now 
losing  from  desertions  and  other  causes  at  least  one 
regiment  per  day.  With  this  drain  upon  them  the 
end  is  visible,  if  we  will  but  be  true  to  ourselves." 

During  the  winter  of  1864-1865  Grant  spent  most 
of  the  time  at  City  Point,  at  the  junction  of  the 
James  and  Appomattox  Eivers,  where  in  winter- 
quarters  he  kept  in  constant  touch  with  each  phase 
of  the  campaign.  His  wife  and  children  visited 
him  there  for  a  time,  and  also  Lincoln.  In  Decem 
ber  an  unsuccessful  expedition  was  sent  against 
Fort  Fisher  which  commanded  the  harbor  of  Wil 
mington  in  North  Carolina, — a  favorite  resort  of 
blockade  runners.  As  Butler  assumed  the  charge 
of  this  expedition,  the  usual  fiasco  resulted,  thus 
causing  his  removal  from  the  command  of  the 
Army  of  the  James.  But  one  month  later  the  same 
soldiers,  then  under  the  skilful  leadership  of  Gen 
eral  Terry,  captured  Fort  Fisher,  thereby  closing 
the  harbor.  Meanwhile  Sherman  advanced  from 


254  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

Savannah  and,  piercing  the  Cacolinas,  had  com 
pelled  the  evacuation  of  Columbia,  Charleston  and 
Ealeigh.  To  halt  his  irresistible  advance,  Davis 
was  obliged  to  summon  from  retirement  General 
Joseph  Johnston,  whom  he  cordially  disliked,  to 
take  command  of  the  remnants  of  Hood's  army  and 
such  other  fragments  as  could  be  gathered  together 
to  resist  Sherman.  Following  his  usual  policy  of 
concentration,  Grant  now  ordered  Stonemau  with 
Thomas's  cavalry  to  threaten  Virginia  from  the 
southwest,  while  Schofield  was  detached  from 
Thomas  and  sent  to  Wilmington  to  join  Sherman. 
The  Northern  lines  were  fast  closing  around  Lee's 
devoted  baud  and,  weakened  by  privation  and  con 
stant  campaigning,  it  could  not  long  avert  the  final 
disaster. 

There  was  no  help  to  be  obtained  from  the  civil 
counsels  of  the  Confederacy  in  this  emergency. 
The  frequent  issues  of  paper  money  had  so  de 
bauched  the  currency  that  industry  had  become 
completely  disorganized.  In  January,  the  Confed 
erate  Congress  made  Lee  the  Commander-in-Chief, 
giving  him  practically  supreme  power,  and  two 
months  later,  on  his  recommendation,  an  act  was 
passed  authorizing  the  enlistment  of  slaves  as 
soldiers.  Previous  to  this  time  Lee  had  advised 
the  civil  administration  that  he  could  not  long 
maintain  the  lines  before  Richmond,  and  had  sug 
gested  that  the  capital  should  be  abandoned,  and 
that  his  army,  joining  with  that  of  Johnston,  should 
endeavor  to  overwhelm  Sherman  before  Grant  could 


PETERSBUBG  AND  APPOMATTOX    255 

arrive.  In  the  field  of  military  speculation,  it 
would  be  interesting  to  consider  the  chances  of  suc 
cess  for  this  plan,  and  also  the  effect  of  such  a  dar 
ing  stroke  upon  the  endurance  of  the  North.  Either 
the  obstinacy  of  President  Davis  or  the  muddy  con 
dition  of  the  roads,  or  both,  postponed  its  execu 
tion,  and  before  the  opportunity  was  utilized,  Grant 
had  resumed  the  offensive. 

Early  in  March  on  the  eve  of  Lincoln's  second 
inauguration,  Grant  had  been  advised  that  Lee  de 
sired  an  interview  with  him.  He  reported  this 
request  to  Stanton,  who  replied  with  the  instruc 
tions  of  the  President,  that  he  should  hold  no  con 
ference  with  Lee  except  upon  military  matters,  all 
political  questions  being  reserved  for  Lincoln's  de 
cision.  Shortly  after  the  President  came  to  City 
Point,  where  presently  arrived  Sherman  whose 
army  was  then  in  North  Carolina.  There  also 
came  Sheridan  from  the  Shenaudoah  Valley,  and 
for  the  first  and  only  time  in  the  history  of  the  war 
these  four  mighty  leaders  of  the  North  were  to 
gether.  The  anticipated  arrival  of  Sherman's  army 
would  give  Grant  an  overwhelming  preponderance 
of  numbers.  But  without  waiting  for  his  great 
lieutenant,  Grant  determined  to  give  the  Army  of 
the  Potomac  a  final  chance  to  end  the  struggle, 
without  the  assistance  of  the  soldiers  from  the  West. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  as  to  Grant's  confidence  in 
the  outcome  of  the  next  operations.  Writing  to 
Dr.  Kittoe  on  February  24,  1865,  he  said:  "In 
three  weeks  more  I  do  not  believe  there  will  be  a 


256  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

Eebel  Army  in  the  field  capable  of  resisting  the 
advance  of  10,000  cavalry.  This  is  my  candid 
judgment.  Only  I  may,  in  view  of  the  bad  roads 
that  may  be  expected  during  the  next  month,  fix 
the  time  for  this  final  triumph  a  little  too  short." 
As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  was  just  over  six  weeks 
when  he  received  the  surrender  of  Lee's  army. 

At  the  end  of  March  Grant  had  about  116,000 
men,  including  Sheridan's  cavalry,  under  his  im 
mediate  command.  The  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia  had  been  reduced  to  52,000  effectives,  defend 
ing  a  line  of  entrenchments  which,  from  constant 
stretching  to  the  south  in  order  to  face  flanking 
movements,  was  now  thirty-seven  miles  in  extent. 
The  plans  for  the  concluding  campaign  were  most 
carefully  prepared.  Grant's  orders  are  an  apt  il 
lustration  of  his  military  prescience.  On  March 
24th  he  advised  each  commander  of  the  plan  of 
operations  to  be  inaugurated  five  days  later,  and  in 
conclusion  gave  warning  that  the  enemy  might 
come  out  from  his  lines  to  attack  the  moving  col 
umns.  Some  weeks  before  he  had  notified  each 
commander  to  be  on  the  lookout  for  an  offensive 
movement  to  break  the  lines  at  Petersburg,  and  on 
March  26th  Lee,  concentrating  a  heavy  force  under 
Gordon,  made  a  sudden  dash  at  Fort  Stedman,  in 
the  centre  of  the  Ninth  Corps.  This  gallant  sortie 
was  for  a  time  successful,  but  in  a  few  hours  the  at 
tack  was  repulsed  and  the  Confederates  were  driven 
back  with  a  loss  of  2,000  prisoners.  Moreover,  tak 
ing  advantage  of  the  weakening  of  the  defensive 


PETEESBUEG  AND  APPOMATTOX    257 

lines  to  form  the  aggressive  columns,  Wright  and 
Humphreys,  who  now  commanded  the  Second  Corps, 
captured  the  entrenched  picket-line  in  front  of  the 
left  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac.  The  net  result  of 
Lee's  final  offensive  operation  was  a  complete  de 
feat. 

The  strategy  of  Grant's  last  campaign  was  fault 
less,  and  the  execution  perfect.  Leaving  about 
one-half  of  his  army  under  tested  commanders  who 
had  developed  in  large  measure  under  his  own  eye, 
— Weitzel,  Ord,  Parke  and  Wright, — to  face  the  en 
trenched  lines  of  the  Confederates,  he  moved  the 
Second  and  Fifth  Corps,  together  with  the  cavalry, 
to  his  extreme  left,  and  placing  this  detachment 
under  the  command  of  Sheridan,  he  ordered  him  to 
break  the  line  of  the  Southside  Eailroad.  At  first 
Grant  had  in  contemplation  another  cavalry  raid 
and  had  even  prepared  orders  for  the  cavalry  to 
join  Sherman  in  North  Carolina.  But  when  Sheri 
dan  protested  that  the  time  had  come  for  a  finishing 
blow,  Grant  explained  that  these  orders  were  a 
blind  to  be  used  if  circumstances  made  it  necessary  j 
that  his  own  intention  was  to  end  the  matter  at 
once.  On  March  29th  the  turning  movement  began 
and  by  nightfall  the  cavalry  had  reached  Dinwiddie 
Court  House.  Five  Forks  was  an  important  cross 
roads  on  Lee's  extreme  right  protecting  the  line  of 
the  railroad.  Thither  Lee  hurried  Pickett  with 
7,000  infantry  and  Fitzhugh  Lee  with  an  equal 
number  of  cavalry.  On  March  31st  there  was  a 
hard  day's  fighting  on  the  road  from  Five  Forks  to 


258  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

the  Court  House,  but  Warren's  advance  with  the 
Fifth  Corps  compelled  Pickett's  retreat  to  his  en 
trenched  lines.  On  the  next  day  the  decisive  battle 
of  the  campaign  was  fought  at  Five  Forks.  Sheri 
dan  struck  first  with  his  cavalry,  and  with  admir 
able  skill  dismounted  some  of  his  men  so  as  to  en 
gage  the  enemy  at  close  range.  Meanwhile  Warren 
brought  up  the  Fifth  Corps  against  Pickett's  left, 
and  in  the  late  afternoon  the  Confederates  were 
routed  in  one  of  the  most  sweeping  victories  of  the 
war.  Five  thousand  prisoners  were  proof  of  the 
victory  and  as  Pickett  retreated  to  the  north,  the 
coveted  railroad,  now  the  main  artery  of  the  Con 
federacy,  was  brought  within  Sheridan's  grasp.  In 
the  moment  of  victory  Sheridan  relieved  Warren  of 
command  on  the  ground  that  he  had  been  slow  to 
attack,  a  charge  which  afterward  gave  rise  to  a 
military  investigation  in  which  Warren  was  vindi 
cated. 

With  keen  anxiety,  Grant  awaited  the  news  from 
his  left  and  when  the  tidings  of  the  overwhelming 
victory  came,  there  was  a  scene  of  rejoicing  at  his 
headquarters  such  as  had  not  been  witnessed  since 
the  beginning  of  the  war.  Realizing  that  Lee  must 
now  evacuate  Petersburg,  the  first  fear  was  that  his 
movement  might  be  commenced  at  once  thereby  en 
abling  the  enemy  to  concentrate  against  Sheridan's 
advanced  force.  Instantly  Grant  sent  out  orders 
for  a  night  bombardment  all  along  the  line,  and 
from  ten  o'clock  until  midnight  the  thunder  of  the 
guns  proclaimed  the  alertness  of  his  forces.  At 


PETERSBURG  AND  APPOMATTOX    259 

four  o'clock  on  Sunday  morning,  April  2d,  Parke, 
Wright  and  Humphreys  led  their  columns  to  a  gen 
eral  assault.  Now  the  advanced  positions  which 
had  been  won  the  preceding  week  proved  of  in 
estimable  advantage,  and  by  seven  o'clock  the  line 
of  entrenchments  was  broken  and  Petersburg,  the 
once  invincible  citadel  of  the  Confederacy,  had  be 
come  untenable. 

Jefferson  Davis  was  attending  the  Episcopal  serv 
ice  in  St.  Paul's  Church  when  he  received  Lee's 
message  that  his  lines  were  broken,  and  that  Rich 
mond  must  be  evacuated  by  nightfall.  Placing 
Gordon  in  command  of  his  rear  guard,  Lee  ordered 
his  men  to  concentrate  at  Amelia  Court  House, 
south  of  the  Appomattox  and  about  thirty-five 
miles  to  the  west  of  Petersburg.  In  the  early  hours 
of  April  3d  Ewell  led  the  last  of  the  Confederates 
from  the  capital,  and  within  a  few  hours  Weitzel 
had  taken  possession  of  Eichmond,  in  the  name  of 
the  Union.  At  about  the  same  hour  Petersburg 
was  surrendered  to  Parke  and  Wright,  and  the  long 
siege  was  over. 

It  is  difficult  to  narrate  the  story  of  the  retreat  of 
the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  without  a  genuine 
feeling  of  sympathy  for  the  brave  men  into  whose 
souls  destiny  had  driven  the  bitterness  of  defeat. 
Morris  Schaff,  in  "  The  Sunset  of  the  Confederacy," 
has  written  a  prose  poem  of  warfare  which  will  help 
to  immortalize  to  later  generations  the  closing  hours 
of  Lee's  brave  army.  Many  things  went  wrong  in 
Lee's  calculations.  By  April  4th  he  had  concen- 


260  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

trated  his  army,  now  less  than  37,000,  at  Amelia 
Court  House  where  he  expected  to  have  found  sup 
plies.  But  his  orders  to  Bichniond  lacked  clear 
ness  and  the  trains  which  should  have  carried  food 
and  forage  had  been  used  instead  to  carry  off  to 
Danville  the  civil  officers  and  archives  of  the  Con 
federacy.  Stern  necessity  therefore  compelled  him 
to  halt  for  a  day  while  food  was  being  collected. 

Meanwhile  Sheridan  had  not  rested  after  his  vic 
tory  at  Five  Forks.  He  was  pushing  forward  in 
pursuit  of  Pickett's  retreating  forces  when  he  re 
ceived  word  of  the  evacuation  of  Petersburg. 
Speeding  west  along  roads  parallel  with  the  retreat 
ing  Confederates,  he  seized  Jetersville  on  April  4th, 
where  he  fortified  lines  eight  miles  south  of  Amelia 
Court  House,  commanding  the  Danville  Eailroad. 
The  next  day  he  was  joined  by  Humphreys  and 
Griffin  with  the  Second  and  Fifth  Corps,  and  thus 
an  overwhelming  force  was  planted  across  Lee's 
direct  line  of  retreat.  The  road  to  Danville  being 
blocked,  Lee  now  determined  to  march  westward  to 
Lynchburg.  Starting  on  the  night  of  April  5th,  he 
passed  around  the  Union  position,  heading  toward 
Bice's  Station.  Meade  lost  several  hours  by  march 
ing  toward  Amelia  Court  House,  but  when  the  new 
direction  of  the  retreat  was  discovered,  his  army 
quickly  pursued.  At  Sailor's  Creek,  Ewell  stopped 
to  engage  the  Sixth  Corps  in  order  to  protect  the 
trains,  but  Sheridan  with  his  cavalry  cut  in  behind 
the  line  of  retreat,  and  eventually  EwelPs  whole 
force  was  obliged  to  surrender.  The  trophies  of 


PETERSBURG  AND  APPOMATTOX    261 

the  day  were  6,000  prisoners  and  several  general 
officers.  After  this  disaster  Lee  reorganized  his 
fast-diminishing  army  into  two  corps,  with  Gordon 
and  Longstreet  in  command,  and  crossing  to  the 
north  side  of  the  Appomattox  proceeded  west  on 
the  Lynch  burg  Pike.  Grant  now  divided  his  army. 
The  Second  and  Sixth  Corps,  with  Meade  in  com 
mand,  followed  Lee  on  the  direct  line  of  retreat, 
while  Sheridan,  with  the  cavalry  and  Griffin  and 
Ord,  hastened  along  the  south  bank  of  the  river,  by 
way  of  Walker's  Church.  Sheridan  had  the  shorter 
line  to  Appomattox  Court  House  and  he  pushed  the 
advance  with  so  much  vigor  that  on  the  evening 
of  April  8th  his  cavalry  took  possession  of  the 
station,  seizing  four  train  loads  of  provisions  which 
had  come  from  Lynchburg  to  meet  Lee's  starving 
army.  Scarcely  had  Sheridan  seized  the  Lynch 
burg  Pike,  before  he  saw  Gordon,  with  the  advance 
of  the  Confederates,  approaching  from  the  east,  and 
although  Sheridan  was  without  infantry  he  deter 
mined  to  hold  his  position,  sending  word  to  Ord 
and  Griffin  to  make  a  forced  march  to  his  support. 

The  morning  disclosed  Lee's  desperate  condition. 
Sheridan  with  the  cavalry  blocked  further  advance 
to  the  west.  Meade,  with  Humphreys  and  Wright, 
was  close  in  pursuit  of  the  rear.  There  was  a 
chance  that  the  cavalry  might  be  driven  away  be 
fore  the  supporting  infantry  could  arrive  and,  true 
to  his  military  instincts,  Lee  resolved  to  try  that 
chance.  Gordon  was  sent  against  Sheridan,  while 
Longstreet,  two  miles  in  the  rear,  formed  in  line 


262  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

of  battle  against  Meade.  The  last  charge  of  the 
Confederacy  was  conducted  with  the  usual  dash  and 
spirit  of  its  devoted  soldiery.  If  they  had  had  noth 
ing  to  face  but  cavalry  the  way  of  retreat  might 
have  been  won,  but  when  the  opening  skirmish  was 
concluded  and  the  cavalry  had  commenced  to  re 
tire,  their  places  were  taken  by  the  long  lines  of 
blue  infantry.  With  incredible  devotion,  Ord  and 
Griffin  had  marched  thirty  miles  in  the  preceding 
day  and  night  and  like  a  mighty  wave  advanced 
across  the  pike  to  crush  the  last  hope  of  the  Con 
federacy.  Outflanked,  outnumbered  and  outgen 
eraled,  Gordon  sent  to  Lee  this  despairing  message  : 
"Tell  General  Lee  that  my  command  has  been 
fought  to  a  frazzle,  and  I  fear  I  can  do  nothing  un 
less  I  am  heavily  supported  by  Lougstreet's  Corps." 
It  was  this  message  which  brought  from  Lee  the 
pathetic  exclamation,—"  Then  there  is  nothing  left 
me  but  to  go  and  see  General  Grant,  and  I  had 
rather  die  a  thousand  deaths." 

During  the  final  week  of  the  life  of  the  Army  of 
Northern  Virginia,  Grant's  generalship  was  never 
displayed  to  better  advantage.  From  the  moment 
that  Lee  had  abandoned  the  fortified  lines,  Grant 
realized  that  henceforth  the  Confederate  Army  was 
his  only  true  objective  point.  Without  turning 
aside  to  enter  Eichmond,  so  hardly  won  and  with 
so  great  cost,  he  hurried  his  columns  in  an  im 
mediate  pursuit  of  the  retreating  foe,  and  himself 
accompanied  first  one  corps  and  then  another, 
giving  personal  direction  to  every  detail  of  the 


PETEESBUEG  AND  APPOMATTOX    263 

advance.  On  the  evening  of  April  5th,  when  Lee 
was  at  Amelia  Court  House  and  Sheridan  was  at 
Jetersville,  the  latter  felt  that  Meade's  orders  for 
the  next  day  would  swing  the  army  too  much  to 
the  north  and  thereby  give  Lee  a  chance  to  escape. 
He  hastily  sent  a  dispatch  to  Grant  describing  the 
situation  on  the  battle  line  and  concluding, — "I 
wish  you  were  here  yourself."  Although  it  was 
then  quite  dark,  Grant  and  his  staff  made  a  night 
ride  of  almost  twenty  miles,  so  close  to  the  enemy's 
lines  that  there  was  imminent  danger  of  capture, 
in  order  that  he  might  take  personal  charge  of  the 
work.  As  a  result,  the  line  of  march  was  changed, 
thus  paving  the  way  for  the  decisive  victory  at 
Sailor's  Creek  on  the  next  day. 

After  Ewell  had  surrendered,  Sheridan  sent  a 
report  to  Grant  in  which  he  described  the  dis 
organization  of  the  enemy,  ending  with  these 
words, — "If  the  thing  is  pressed,  I  think  that 
Lee  will  surrender."  Grant  forwarded  this  mes 
sage  to  Lincoln  who  instantly  replied, — "  Let  the 
thing  be  pressed. " 

On  April  7th,  Lee  had  escaped  to  the  north  bank 
of  the  Appomattox,  but  Meade  with  two  corps  was 
in  close  pursuit,  and  Sheridan  with  the  cavalry 
and  the  left  wing  of  the  army  was  on  the  south 
bank,  but  had  control  of  the  shorter  road  to  Appo 
mattox  Station.  Grant  had  been  talking  with  some 
of  the  prisoners  of  Sailor's  Creek  who  had  told  him 
of  the  demoralization  of  Lee's  army, — in  particular, 
Ewell  was  quoted  as  saying  that  for  every  man 


264  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

killed  after  this  in  the  war  somebody  was  respon 
sible,  and  it  would  be  little  better  than  murder. 
Eealizing  that  pride  might  prevent  Lee  from  mak 
ing  the  first  step  in  the  negotiations,  Grant  took  the 
initiative  and  on  April  7th  sent  Lee  a  letter  asking 
for  surrender.1 

When  this  letter  was  delivered  to  Lee  he  was  on 
the  Lynchburg  pike  in  full  expectation  of  receiving 
supplies  at  Appomattox  and  without  knowledge 
that  Sheridan  was  outstripping  him  in  the  pursuit. 
There  can  be  little  doubt  but  that  even  in  this  ex 
tremity  Lee  still  hoped  to  make  good  his  escape  to 
the  mountains,  and  to  effect  a  possible  junction  with 
Johnston.  He  replied,  however,  to  Grant's  letter, 
asking  for  terms  but  without  halting  his  retreat. 
On  April  8th  Grant  wrote  again,  statiug  that  peace 
was  his  great  desire  and  that  consequently  he  would 
insist  upon  but  one  condition,  viz.,  that  those  sur 
rendered  should  be  disqualified  for  further  service 
until  properly  exchanged. 

On  the  evening  of  April  8th  Grant  was  with 
Meade's  column  and  was  suffering  from  a  severe 
headache,  the  result  of  his  exertions  of  the  previous 
week.  About  midnight  he  received  Lee's  reply, 
in  which  the  latter,  who  was  still  ignorant  of 
Sheridan's  advance  to  Appomattox  Station,  de 
clared  that  the  emergency  had  not  yet  arisen  which 
called  for  the  surrender  of  his  army,  but  suggested 
a  conference  to  consider  the  problem  of  the  restora 
tion  of  peace.  Having  in  mind  Stanton's  instruc- 
1  The  full  correspondence  is  given  in  Appendix  C,  page  362. 


PETEESBUEG  AND  APPOMATTOX    265 

tions  of  the  preceding  mouth,  Grant  replied,  in  the 
early  morning  of  April  9th,  refusing  a  conference 
on  this  subject,  as  beyond  his  authority.  In  the 
concluding  sentence  of  this  letter,  however,  he  ex 
pressed  his  sincere  hope  that  "all  our  difficulties 
may  be  settled  without  the  loss  of  another  life." 

While  this  correspondence  was  going  on,  there 
were  animated  discussions  in  the  Confederate  camp 
on  the  subject  of  surrender.  Most  of  the  officers 
had  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  struggle  was 
hopeless,  and  in  spite  of  the  articles  of  war  which 
stigmatize  such  a  course  of  action  as  treason,  they 
had  presented  their  conclusions  to  Lee.  It  was 
pathetically  hard  for  their  commander  to  bring 
himself  to  that  point  of  view.  By  nature  and  tem 
perament  the  most  daring  of  soldiers,  he  still  hoped 
that  some  brilliant  stroke  would  bring  him  the 
victory.  Many  times  in  the  past  his  military  genius 
had  wrought  what  had  seemed  to  be  miracles,  and 
he  longed  for  one  more  chance.  Moreover,  his 
pride  revolted  at  the  idea  of  yielding  to  one  whose 
name  was  synonymous  with  "unconditional  sur 
render,  "  for,  even  with  Grant's  letters  before  him, 
Lee  could  not  appreciate  the  greatness  of  the  mag 
nanimity  of  his  opponent.  But  when  on  the  morn 
ing  of  April  9th,  Gordon's  attack  disclosed  that  the 
way  of  retreat  was  blocked  and  the  Army  of  North 
ern  Virginia  was  surrounded,  Lee  yielded  to  the 
inevitable  and  displaying  the  white  flag  as  the 
basis  for  a  truce,  he  wrote  again  to  Grant  request 
ing  an  interview  for  the  purpose  of  surrender. 


266  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

Meanwhile  Grant,  still  suffering  excruciating 
pain,  had  ridden  across  the  country  to  join  Sheri 
dan.  While  en  route  he  was  overtaken  by  the  mes 
senger  with  Lee's  letter,  and  hastily  dispatching  a 
reply  he  rode  into  Appomattox  where  he  found  Lee 
and  one  of  his  aides,  Colonel  Marshall,  waiting  for 
him  in  the  house  of  Wilmer  McLean,  the  most  pre 
tentious  residence  in  the  town.  After  a  hasty 
greeting  with  Sheridan  and  Ord,  Grant  joined  Lee 
in  the  parlor  of  the  McLean  house. 

It  was  then  about  half-past  one  on  Palm  Sunday, 
April  9th.  The  contrast  between  the  two  generals 
was  striking.  Lee  was  the  senior  by  fifteen  years 
and,  in  spite  of  his  extremity,  he  was  attired  in  a 
new  uniform  which  set  off  his  handsome  and  aristo 
cratic  figure.  He  wore  a  fine  sword  with  a  jeweled 
hilt,  a  present  from  some  English  sympathizers  ;  on 
the  other  hand,  Grant  was  stooped,  without  sword 
or  sash,  wearing  a  blouse  of  dark  blue  flannel,  his 
clothing  and  boots  spattered  with  mud,  with  noth 
ing  but  a  pair  of  shoulder-straps  to  indicate  his 
rank.  The  first  greeting  between  these  two  great 
commanders  was  private,  each  being  attended  by 
one  aide,  but  presently  Grant  called  into  the  room 
the  waiting  generals  and  his  staff,  who  were  present 
during  the  consideration  of  the  terms.  Afterward 
Grant  recorded  that  his  own  feelings  at  this  moment 
of  his  greatest  triumph  were  sad  and  depressed.  "  I 
felt  like  anything  rather  than  rejoicing  at  the  down 
fall  of  a  foe  who  had  fought  so  long  and  valiantly, 
and  had  suffered  so  much  for  a  cause,  though  that 


PETERSBURG  AND  APPOMATTOX    267 

cause  was,  I  believe,  one  of  the  worst  for  which  a 
people  ever  fought,  and  one  for  which  there  was 
least  excuse.'7 

Grant  and  Lee  had  met  previously  in  the  Mexican 
War  and  their  first  conversation  was  about  old 
times.  Once  in  the  City  of  Mexico  Grant  had  re 
ported  at  Scott's  headquarters  in  a  fatigue  uniform 
and  Lee,  who  was  then  serving  on  Scott's  staff,  had 
directed  his  attention  to  the  general's  orders,  that 
all  officers  reporting  at  headquarters  should  be  in 
full  uniform.  The  contrast  in  appearance  at  Ap- 
pomattox  brought  the  recollection  of  this  incident 
to  Grant's  memory  and  his  first  feeling  made  him 
uncomfortable  lest  Lee  should  recall  what  had  hap 
pened  in  Mexico,  when  the  contrast  in  uniforms  was 
equally  pronounced. 

After  a  desultory  conversation,  Lee  asked  the 
terms  of  surrender  and,  calling  for  his  order  book, 
Grant  proceeded  to  write  out  his  proposition. 
While  writing  he  glanced  at  Lee's  magnificent 
sword  and,  reflecting  that  it  would  be  an  unneces 
sary  humiliation  to  require  the  officers  to  surrender 
their  personal  weapons,  he  added  the  sentence  ex 
empting  the  side-arms  of  the  officers  and  their  pri 
vate  horses  from  its  terms.  When  Lee  read  over 
Grant's  letter  he  first  commented  upon  the  inad 
vertent  omission  of  the  word  " exchanged,"  and  a 
proper  correction  was  made.  When  he  reached  the 
generous  sentence  which  exempted  the  private  prop 
erty  of  officers  he  seemed  touched  and  said, — "  This 
will  have  a  very  happy  effect  upon  my  army. 1J 


268  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

After  a  careful  reading  he  stated  that  his  cavalry 
men  and  artillerists  also  owned  their  own  horses 
and  inquired  whether  these  men  would  be  allowed 
to  retain  their  property.  Grant's  reply  became  his 
toric  :  "I  think  we  have  fought  the  last  battle  of 
the  war, — I  sincerely  hope  so, — and  that  the  surren 
der  of  this  army  will  be  followed  soon  by  that  of  all 
the  others ;  and  I  take  it  that  most  of  the  men  in 
the  ranks  are  small  farmers,  and  as  the  country  has 
been  so  raided  by  the  two  armies,  it  is  doubtful 
whether  they  will  be  able  to  put  in  a  crop  to  carry 
themselves  and  their  families  through  the  next  winter 
without  the  aid  of  the  horses  they  are  now  riding,  and 
I  will  arrange  it  in  this  way.  I  will  not  change  the 
terms  as  now  written,  but  I  will  instruct  the  officers 
I  shall  appoint  to  receive  the  paroles  to  let  all  the  men 
who  claim  to  own  a  horse  or  mule  take  the  animals 
home  with  them  to  work  their  little  farms."  To  this 
generous  remark,  Lee  made  appreciative  reply  : 
"  This  will  have  the  best  possible  effect  upon  the  men. 
It  will  be  very  gratifying,  and  will  do  much  toward 
conciliating  our  people." 

The  terms  were  then  copied  by  Colonel  Parker,  a 
full-blooded  Indian  who  had  been  serving  on  Grant's 
staff,  and  Lee  drafted  a  letter  of  acceptance.  In  the 
conversation  which  followed  Lee  acknowledged  his 
lack  of  provisions  and  Grant  directed  that  25,000 
rations  be  furnished  at  once.  A  little  after  four 
o'clock  Lee,  with  Colonel  Marshall,  left  the  room 
and  while  waiting  for  his  horse  to  be  brought  he 
gazed  sadly  in  the  direction  where  his  army  was  en- 


PETEESBUEG  AND  APPOMATTOX    269 

camped  and,  in  the  agony  of  his  spirit,  thrice  smote 
the  palm  of  his  left  hand  with  his  right  fist, — his 
one  expression  of  emotion  during  the  momentous 
interview. 

As  he  rode  off  to  his  camp  the  news  of  surrender 
had  reached  the  soldiers  and  the  firing  of  salutes  be 
gan.  Grant  sent  a  hasty  order  to  have  the  salutes 
stopped  saying,  u  The  rebels  are  our  countrymen 
again. "  A  short  dispatch  was  sent  to  Stanton  an 
nouncing  the  surrender.1 

The  next  day  was  spent  in  the  preparation  and 
signing  of  paroles  which  reached  a  total  of  28, 231. 2 
In  the  forenoon  Grant  rode  within  the  Confederate 
lines  and  had  a  half  hour's  conference  with  Lee, 
both  sitting  on  horseback.  He  urged  upon  Lee  the 
necessity  of  peace  and  suggested  that  he  should  use 
his  great  influence  to  that  end.  Lee  replied  that 


1  The  details  of  the  surrender  at  Appomattox  have  been  taken 
in  large  measure  from  "  Campaigning  with  Grant,"  by  Horace 
Porter,  who  was  present. 

2  The  form  of  parole  issued  was  as  follows  : 

I, ,    Prisoner    of   War,    do  hereby  give   my 

solemn  Parole  of  Honor  not  to  take  part  in  hostilities  againsfc 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  until  properly  exchanged  ; 
and  that  I  will  not  do  anything,  directly  or  indirectly,  to  the 
detriment  or  disparagement  of  the  authority  of  the  United 
States,  until  properly  exchanged  as  aforesaid. 


I  certify  that gave  the  foregoing  Parole  in 

my  presence,  and  signed  it  in  duplicate,  and  has  permission  to 
go  to  his  home  and  there  remain  undisturbed. 


270  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

this  was  a  matter  for  the  civil  authority,  and  after  a 
courteous  interview  they  parted  never  to  meet 
again,  except  once  when  Lee  called  upon  Grant  in 
the  White  House. 

When  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  made  its 
last  march  to  stack  its  arms,  General  Chamberlain, 
of  the  Fifth  Corps,  was  appointed  to  receive  the  sur 
render.  As  Gordon  came  down  the  road  at  the  head 
of  his  column,  Chamberlain  ordered  his  men  to 
salute  and,  with  instant  appreciation  of  the  courtesy, 
Gordon  directed  the  proper  response.  Without 
cheering  or  sound  of  trumpet  or  gun,  but  in  an 
awed  silence,  salute  answering  salute,  honor  meet 
ing  honor,  the  veteran  opponents  of  many  momen 
tous  battles  met  and  parted. 

It  is  impossible  to  commend  too  highly  the  meet 
ing  at  Appomattox  as  an  evidence  of  American 
character — both  in  triumph  and  adversity.  After 
ward  Colonel  Marshall  said  that  if  Grant  and  his 
officers  had  studied  how  not  to  offend,  they  could 
not  have  borne  themselves  with  more  good  breed 
ing.  "  There  is  not  in  our  whole  history  as  a  peo 
ple,"  says  Charles  Francis  Adams,  u  any  incident 
so  creditable  to  our  manhood.  .  .  .  Grant  was 
considerate  and  magnanimous, — restrained  in  vic 
tory  ;  Lee,  dignified  in  defeat,  carried  himself  with 
that  sense  of  absolute  fitness  which  compelled  re 
spect.  " 

So  ended  the  historic  scene  at  Appomattox, — a 
campaign  which  for  brilliancy  of  conception,  ac 
curacy  of  execution  and  completeness  of  success, 


PETERSBURG  AND  APPOMATTOX    271 

ranks  among  the  decisive  struggles  of  history. 
Livermore's  comment  is  suggestive  : — "  With  a 
force  of  about  116,000  effectives,  Grant  manoeuvred, 
and  drove  out  of  their  entrenchments  in  front  of 
Richmond  and  Petersburg  about  52,000  Confed 
erates,  and  then  with  72,000  men,  pursuing  for 
eighty  miles  the  remainder  of  the  Confederate  army, 
estimated  at  37,000,  captured,  dispersed  or  put 
hors  de  combat  on  the  way  about  9,000,  and  finally 
surrounded  and  received  the  surrender  of  28,231. 
In  no  other  modern  campaign  has  an  army  ever 
pursued,  surrounded  and  captured  so  many  men  in 
full  flight." 

So  striking  was  Grant's  success  that  it  gave  rise 
to  a  curious  tradition,  based  upon  alleged  conversa 
tions  with  Confederate  officers,  that  when  Weitzel 
entered  Richmond,  he  found  there  a  report  from  Lee 
to  the  Confederate  Secretary  of  War  in  which  the 
former  outlined  his  proposed  plan  of  retreat  when 
he  should  be  forced  to  retire  from  Petersburg,  and 
that  this  information  was  hurried  to  Grant,  thus  en 
abling  him  to  anticipate  and  meet  each  move  of  the 
enemy.  However  soothing  this  legend  may  be  to 
the  susceptibilities  of  those  who  counted  Lee  as  in 
vincible,  it  seems  to  have  but  little  historic  founda 
tion.  The  truth  is  that  Grant  here,  as  at  Vicksburg, 
was  at  his  best.  His  army  was  well  in  hand,  and  he 
had  personal  knowledge  of  the  effectiveness  of  each 
subordinate.  Against  any  foe  of  equal  strength  and 
position,  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  under  Grant's 
leadership  would  probably  have  triumphed,  and 


272  ULYSSES  S.  GKAOT 

when  face  to  face  with  Lee's  weakened  and  exhausted 
soldiers,  it  was  irresistible. 

The  tanner's  sou  was  now  the  idol  of  the  nation, 
for  he  had  fought  its  battles,  until  at  last  came  vic 
tory  and  peace.1 

1  The  summary  of  losses  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  shows 
that  success  under  Grant  had  cost  less  than  failure  under  his 
predecessors. 

Total  losses  under  :— 

McClellan,  -  Apr.    6  to  Aug.  8,  '62,  -  -  24  448 

Pope,    -    -  -  June  6  to  Sept.  2,  '62,  -  -  16,'955 

McClellan,  -  Sept.  3  to  Nov.  H,  '62,  -  -  28,577 

Burnside,  -  Nov.  15  to  Jan.  25,  '63,  -  -  13,214 

Hooker,    -  -  Jan.  26  to  June  27,  '63,  -  25  027 

Meade,      -  -  June  28,  '63  to  May  4, '64,  31,530 

139,751 
Total  losses  under  Grant : — 

1864,  May  5  to  June  24,  Army  of  Potomac— 
Rapidan  to  James, 

1864,   May  5  to  June  14,  Army  of  James- 
South  of  James  River, 

1864,  June  15  to  July  31,  Armies  of  Potomac 
and  James, 

1864,  Aug.  1  to  Dec.  31,  Armies  of  Potomac 

and  James, 

1865,  Jan.  1  to  Apr.  9,  Armies  of  Potomac  and 

Jamea  and  Sheridan     - 

124,390 


CHAPTER  XII 

RECONSTRUCTION 

BY  the  camp-fires  at  Appomattox  on  the  evening 
of  the  surrender,  the  military  bauds  played  "Home 
Sweet  Home."  It  was  universally  recognized  that 
the  overthrow  of  Lee  meant  the  end  of  the  war. 
Not  only  did  it  remove  from  the  conflict  the  most 
redoubtable  captain  and  the  best  appointed  army 
of  the  Confederacy,  but  also  it  had  long  been  un 
derstood  that  the  combat  between  Grant  and  Lee 
would  be  decisive  of  the  struggle.  All  eyes  cen 
tered  on  their  field  of  action,  and  both  sides  ad 
mitted  the  finality  of  the  result.  The  popular  re 
joicing  in  the  North  was  fervent  and  grateful,  and 
gave  evidence  of  that  deep  religious  faith  which, 
beneath  a  surface  of  apparent  materialism,  is  fun 
damental  in  the  American  heart.  The  churches 
were  crowded  and  "  Old  Hundred, "  or  some  other 
hymn  of  gratitude,  was  heard  wherever  men  as 
sembled,  even  in  the  halls  of  trade. 

In  the  exultation  of  the  hour  Grant  did  not  lose 
sight  of  the  duties  which  the  new  aspect  of  the  strug 
gle  presented.  The  war  was  costing  four  millions 
a  day  ;  recruiting  was  still  going  on  under  the 
stimulus  of  bounties  ;  and  there  were  over  one  mil 
lion  men  in  the  armies  of  the  North.  Leaving 


274  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

Meade  in  command,  Grant  returned  to  City  Point 
where  immediate  arrangements  were  made  to  reduce 
the  military  expenditures.  Eealiziug  that  Sherman 
would  probably  be  able  to  take  care  of  Johnston 
without  the  assistance  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
he  hastened  to  Washington  where,  on  April  13th, 
there  was  a  general  illumination  with  fireworks. 
Secretary  Welles  has  described  the  popular  rejoic 
ing  in  the  capital, — "The  nation  seems  delirious 
with  joy.  Guns  are  firing,  bells  ringing,  flags  fly 
ing,  men  laughing,  children  cheering,  all,  all  are 
jubilant.7'  On  the  day  of  Grant's  return,  orders 
were  issued  stopping  all  drafting  and  recruiting 
and  further  purchase  of  ammunition  and  supplies. 
During  the  evening  display  the  President  and  Mrs. 
Lincoln  took  Grant  in  their  carriage  to  observe  the 
fireworks,  and  everywhere  they  were  greeted  with 
nine  cheers  for  the  President  and  an  equal  number 
for  the  General.  Never  was  the  nation  happier ; 
never  was  there  rejoicing  which  turned  so  quickly 
to  sorrow  and  dismay  ! 

April  14th  is  a  date  written  large  in  the  his 
tory  of  the  United  States.  Four  years  before  the 
flag  had  been  lowered  at  Fort  Sumter,  and  the 
crisis  precipitated.  Now  to  signalize  the  triumph 
of  the  Union,  General  Anderson,  who  had  been 
Major  in  charge  at  the  original  bombardment,  was 
appointed  to  raise  the  Stars  and  Stripes  in  Charles 
ton  Harbor  and  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  the  most 
noted  of  the  anti-slavery  orators,  delivered  a  memo 
rial  oration.  In  Washington  there  was  a  meeting 


[RECONSTRUCTION  275 

of  the  Cabinet  which  Grant  was  invited  to  attend. 
A  thorough  discussion  ensued  of  the  new  problems 
which  victory  had  brought, — the  reopening  of  trade 
in  the  Southern  states,  the  reconstruction  of  the 
state  governments,  etc.  Some  inquiry  was  made  as 
to  Sherman's  progress  and  the  absence  of  news  from 
North  Carolina  was  commented  upon.  It  was  then 
that  the  President  remarked  that  he  expected  favor 
able  news  soon,  for  on  the  night  before  he  had  had 
the  usual  dream  which  had  preceded  nearly  every 
important  event  of  the  war.  He  said  that  he  seemed 
to  be  in  a  singular  indescribable  vessel  moving  with 
great  rapidity  toward  an  indefinite  shore,  and  that 
he  had  had  this  dream  before  Sumter,  Antietain, 
Gettysburg,  Stone  Eiver,  Vicksburg,  etc.  After 
the  Cabinet  had  adjourned,  Lincoln  invited  General 
and  Mrs.  Grant  to  attend  the  theatre  with  him  that 
night,  but  Grant,  finding  that  his  work  at  Washing 
ton  was  now  concluded,  decided  instead  to  visit  his 
children  who  were  at  school  in  Burlington,  N.  J. 

Grant  and  his  wife  took  the  evening  train  for  the 
North.  When  they  reached  Philadelphia,  they 
crossed  to  the  ferry  on  the  east  side  of  the  city  and 
there  they  received  the  dispatches  which  announced 
the  assassination  of  the  President,  the  murderous 
assault  upon  Secretary  Seward,  and  the  rumor  of 
the  attack  upon  the  Vice-President.  It  is  impos 
sible  to  express  the  universal  sorrow  and  the  tre 
mendous  indignation  which  was  caused  by  the  death 
of  Lincoln.  Mingled  with  the  popular  lament, 
which  was  felt  by  all,  regardless  of  politics,  there 


276  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

was  a  general  feeling  of  apprehension  as  to  its  pos 
sible  effect  upon  the  policy  of  the  nation.  First 
taking  his  wife  to  Burlington,  Grant  returned  to 
Washington  by  special  train,  where  he  found  a  city 
in  mourning. 

At  ten  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  April  15th  the 
oath  of  office  was  administered  to  Andrew  Johnson, 
and  thus  there  was  inaugurated  a  period  of  civil  and 
political  disputation,  happily  without  a  parallel  in 
the  history  of  the  country.  The  new  President  was 
no  stranger  to  Grant.  During  the  Chattanooga 
campaign  Johnson  was  serving  as  the  military  gov 
ernor  of  Tennessee  and  his  energy  and  intense  pa 
triotism  had  won  for  him  a  large  measure  of  deserved 
popularity.  He  was  a  man  of  positive  views  and 
had  frequently  run  counter  to  the  military  author 
ities.  Thus,  in  the  spring  of  1864  he  had  protested 
against  appointing  Sherman  to  command  the  Depart 
ment  of  the  Cumberland,  saying  that  the  people 
demanded  Thomas.  Again,  three  months  later,  he 
addressed  a  strong  argument  to  the  President  in  fa 
vor  of  retaining  Granger  in  a  command  from  which 
Grant  had  removed  him.  No  one  can  read  the  cor 
respondence  of  the  War  Department  for  the  last  year 
of  the  war  without  obtaining  a  definite  conception  of 
Andrew  Johnson, — active,  zealous,  honest,  a  bitter 
partisan,  interfering  with  the  business  of  others,  re 
peating  and  reiterating  his  wishes  as  peremptory 
commands,  and  yet  so  patriotic  in  his  purposes  and 
untiring  in  his  efforts  that  even  Stanton,  who  was  later 
his  bitterest  opponent,  spoke  of  him  with  high  praise. 


KECONSTKUCTION  277 

The  untimely  death  of  Lincoln  accented  the  line 
of  cleavage  between  the  radicals  and  conservatives 
among  the  Unionists, — a  demarcation  which  might 
have  been  avoided  if  that  great  master  of  men,  who 
had  won  so  completely  the  confidence  of  both  groups, 
had  survived.  The  horror  over  the  assassination 
greatly  increased  the  influence  of  the  radicals  and  at 
first  they  thought  the  new  president  was  of  their  way 
of  thinking.  Johnson  had  declared  that  "  treason 
is  a  crime  and  must  be  made  odious,"  and  this  sen 
timent  found  wide-spread  acceptance  among  those 
who  had  loved  and  followed  Lincoln. 

The  first  evidence  of  this  altered  public  sentiment 
was  seen  in  the  reception  of  tidings  from  Sherman. 
When  Johnston  learned  of  Lee's  surrender,  he  at 
once  opened  negotiations  with  his  opponent,  and  on 
April  18th  Sherman  signed  an  agreement  for  the 
suspension  of  hostilities  and  a  basis  for  peace  which 
involved  a  recognition  of  the  Southern  state  gov 
ernments.  Sherman  had  no  idea  of  the  excited 
condition  of  public  opinion  in  the  North.  He  had 
just  heard  of  the  assassination,  and  he  did  not  know 
of  Lincoln's  peremptory  orders  to  Grant,  forbidding 
him  to  decide  or  discuss  any  political  question. 
When  his  report  reached  Washington,  his  terms 
were  instantly  disapproved  and  Stanton,  whose  zeal 
had  turned  to  bitterness  with  the  death  of  his  be 
loved  chief,  gave  to  the  newspapers  a  full  account 
of  the  transaction,  using  terms  from  which  many 
concluded  that  Sherman  had  been  bribed  with  Con 
federate  gold.  Grant  was  at  once  ordered  to  notify 


278  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

Sherman  of  the  disapproval  of  his  government  and 
to  proceed  personally  to  North  Carolina.  With  in 
finite  tact  he  allowed  Sherman  to  advise  Johnston 
that  the  convention  was  disapproved,  and  afterward 
to  receive  the  surrender  of  Johnston's  army  on  the 
same  terms  as  were  given  at  Appomattox.  Sher 
man  accepted  the  orders  of  his  government  with 
military  obedience  ;  but  when  he  received  the  copies 
of  the  Northern  newspapers  with  their  criticism  of 
his  conduct,  his  naturally  fiery  temper  knew  no 
bounds.  Halleck  had  been  made  commander  of  the 
armies  in  Virginia,  and  had  issued  orders  to  his 
men  to  attack  Johnston,  regardless  of  Sherman. 
As  a  result  when  Sherman  marched  North  with  the 
Army  of  the  West,  he  refused  to  meet  Halleck  in 
Kichniond  and  warned  him  to  keep  out  of  the  way  ; 
and  at  the  final  review  of  the  army  in  Washington, 
he  publicly  refused  to  shake  hands  with  Stanton,  or 
to  recognize  in  any  way  the  man  who  had  put  an 
affront  upon  his  honor.  During  this  distressing 
episode,  it  was  universally  conceded  that  Grant  had 
conducted  himself  with  the  utmost  propriety, — at 
once  loyal  to  the  government  and  to  his  friend. 

On  May  23d  and  24th  the  grand  Citizen  Army 
of  the  Eepublic  was  given  its  final  review  before  the 
President  and  Grant, — on  the  first  day,  the  Army 
of  the  Potomac,  and  on  the  second,  the  Army  of 
the  West.  Even  prior  to  these  parades  the  muster- 
ing-out  began.  On  May  4th  General  Taylor  had 
surrendered  in  Alabama,  and  on  May  26th  General 
Smith  surrendered  the  Confederate  forces  west  of 


EECONSTEUCTION  279 

the  Mississippi.  By  the  following  November  over 
800,000  soldiers  had  been  mustered  out  of  service, 
resuming  their  normal  occupations  as  citizens.  On 
April  2,  1866,  the  President  proclaimed  a  state  of 
peace  existing  everywhere  in  the  United  States 
except  Texas,  and  a  few  months  later  a  second 
proclamation  removed  this  exception.  The  great 
rebellion  was  over  and  the  Union  had  been  main 
tained. 

It  may  fairly  be  stated  that  the  next  year  was 
among  the  happiest  of  Grant's  life.  The  great  work 
had  been  well  done  and  the  nation  was  ready  to 
show  honor  to  those  who  had  led  in  the  doing.  Al 
though  Grant  had  many  demands  upon  his  time  and 
energy,  for  the  army  was  still  in  charge  of  civil 
administration  in  the  South,  yet  there  was  also 
abundant  opportunity  to  visit  the  cities  of  the 
North,  and  travel  was  always  welcome.  In  June 
he  attended  a  great  Fair  in  Chicago  for  the  benefit 
of  the  widows  and  orphans  of  soldiers.  The  next 
mouth  he  visited  Boston  where  he  received  an 
honorary  degree  from  Harvard  University.  Oliver 
Wendell  Holmes,  writing  to  his  friend  Motley,  tells 
of  meeting  Grant  at  the  Saturday  Club,  where  celeb 
rities  naturally  foregather, — "He  is  one  of  the 
simplest,  stillest  men  I  ever  saw.  He  seems  torpid 
at  first,  and  requires  a  little  management  to  get 
much  talk  out  of  him.  Of  all  the  considerable 
personages  I  have  seen,  he  appears  to  me  the  least 
capable  of  an  emotion  of  vanity.  .  .  .  His  en 
tire  sincerity  and  homely  truthfulness  of  manner 


280  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

arid  speech  struck  me  greatly.  .  .  .  Grant  has 
the  look  of  a  plain  business  man,  which  he  is.  I 
doubt  if  we  have  had  any  ideal  so  completely  real 
ized  as  that  of  the  republican  soldier  in  him.  I 
cannot  get  over  the  impression  he  made  on  me." 

The  pleasant  experiences  of  lionizing  culminated 
at  Galena,  where  the  enthusiasm  was  unbounded. 
Here  his  neighbors  presented  him  with  a  com 
pletely  furnished  house.  After  enjoying  its  ac 
commodations  during  the  summer,  Grant  returned 
again  to  Washington  to  resume  the  duties  of  his 
office. 

The  two  absorbing  problems  of  the  time  were 
Mexico  and  reconstruction.  During  the  Civil  War, 
there  had  been  internal  strife  and  anarchy  in 
Mexico,  and  Napoleon  III  determined  to  send  a 
French  expedition  to  establish  a  stable  form  of 
government.  Under  this  influence,  the  notables  of 
Mexico  offered  the  crown  to  the  Archduke  Maxi 
milian,  a  Prince  of  the  Hapsburg  family,  who  was 
crowned  Emperor  of  Mexico  in  1864.  Seward  pro 
tested  bitterly  against  the  invasion  of  the  French  as 
an  infraction  of  the  Monroe  Doctrine,  but  when  the 
army  and  navy  of  the  United  States  were  engaged 
in  Civil  War,  there  was  little  opportunity  to  make 
this  protest  effective.  The  war  ended,  the  Mexican 
situation  became  acute.  Immediately  after  Appo- 
mattox,  Grant  sent  Sheridan  to  the  Eio  Grande 
frontier,  with  instructions  to  aid  Juarez,  who  was 
the  Constitutionalist  President  of  Mexico.  Mean 
while  Napoleon  needed  his  soldiers  at  home,  and  at 


EECONSTEUCTIOK  281 

last  recognized  that  a  continuation  of  his  policy 
meant  war  with  the  United  States  ;  counting  the 
cost  as  too  great,  he  ordered  his  marshal,  Bazaine, 
to  withdraw.  Unfortunately  Maximilian  yielded 
to  the  importunities  of  his  partisans  and  remained 
in  Mexico  after  the  departure  of  the  French  soldiers. 
His  power  gradually  collapsed,  and  in  1867  he  fell 
into  the  hands  of  his  enemies  and  against  the  pro 
test  of  the  United  States,  was  executed.  The  failure 
of  this  last  attempt  to  establish  a  European  empire 
on  American  soil  may  safely  be  attributed  to  the 
military  prestige  of  the  United  States  which  had  re 
sulted  from  the  Civil  War. 

The  second  problem  of  Johnson's  administration 
was  reconstruction.  There  were  many  intricate 
legal  and  constitutional  problems  which  now  con 
fronted  the  nation  for  the  first  time.  Eleven  states 
had  seceded,  but  the  principle  of  secession  had  not 
been  recognized  by  the  Union,  and  by  the  arbitra 
ment  of  battle  had  been  overthrown.  The  question 
then  arose,  what  was  the  effect  of  this  attempt  upon 
statehood  ?  Had  these  states  lost  their  identity,  or 
were  they  now  to  return  to  the  Union  with  all  the 
powers  and  attributes  which  were  possessed  by  the 
other  states  ?  Moreover,  was  the  reconstruction  of 
the  governments  of  the  Southern  states  an  executive 
act  to  be  guided  and  determined  by  the  President, 
or  was  it  a  question  of  legislation  and  hence  under 
the  control  of  Congress  !  These  were  some  of  the 
questions  which  must  be  considered  before  the 
Union  could  be  completely  restored  to  its  normal 


282  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

condition.  They  were  problems  which  had  never 
been  considered  by  the  fathers,  nor  adjudicated  by 
the  legal  tribunals.  Not  until  1869  did  the  Su 
preme  Court  define  the  nature  of  the  Union,  when 
it  declared  in  Texas  vs.  White  that  it  was  "an  in 
destructible  union  of  indestructible  states,"  and 
until  that  time  there  were  many  who  held  that  the 
Confederacy  was  conquered  area,  subject  absolutely 
to  the  will  of  the  victors. 

Moreover,  the  future  of  the  negro  presented  a 
most  serious  problem.  Three  and  a  half  million 
bondsmen  had  been  given  freedom,  but  if  the  con 
ditions  of  life  were  to  be  governed  by  the  domestic 
legislation  of  states  still  under  the  control  of  the 
former  masters,  there  was  grave  reason  for  doubt 
as  to  whether  their  second  stage  might  not  be  worse 
than  their  first.  Lincoln  had  considered  all  aspects 
of  the  problem  and  in  the  last  stages  of  the  war  he 
had  proposed  peace  on  three  conditions,  viz.,  that  the 
Union  be  restored,  that  slavery  be  abolished,  and 
that  the  Confederate  war  debt  be  repudiated.  But 
the  bitterness  of  the  passion  aroused  by  his  assassi 
nation  had  led  to  a  violent  reaction  and  many,  who 
would  have  followed  him  with  enthusiasm  and  loy 
alty,  now  criticized  his  proposed  policy  as  too 
magnanimous.  At  first,  the  radicals  claimed 
Johnson  as  their  leader,  but  in  the  autumn  of  1865 
it  was  apparent  that  in  spite  of  the  bitter  language 
he  had  used  toward  "  traitors, "  the  President  had 
accepted  Lincoln's  policy  and  would  insist  upon  a 
speedy  reconstruction  of  the  rebellious  states. 


BECONSTBUCTION  283 

While  party  lines  were  thus  forming,  Grant's 
sympathy  was  first  with  Johnson.  Naturally  mag 
nanimous,  he  had  seen  too  much  of  the  horrors  of 
war  to  desire  any  revenge  upon  his  late  opponents. 
When  the  question  was  raised  as  to  whether  Lee 
could  be  prosecuted  for  treason,  Grant  promptly 
declared  that  he  was  covered  by  the  terms  of  the 
surrender  at  Appomattox,  and  that  if  a  prosecution 
were  attempted  he  would  at  once  resign  his  com 
mission  and  appeal  to  the  country.  The  practical 
question  to  be  determined  was  the  attitude  of  the 
ex -confederates  toward  the  negro.  In  the  states  of 
the  Confederacy  where  the  late  masters  controlled 
wealth,  public  opinion  and  politics,  would  the  negro 
be  treated  fairly  or  was  it  necessary  that  the  na 
tional  government  should  still  extend  its  protection 
over  the  ex-slaves  I 

Two  interesting  and  opposing  reports  became 
public  shortly  after  Congress  met  in  December, 
1865.  At  the  request  of  the  President,  Grant  made 
a  tour  of  inspection  of  North  and  South  Carolina 
and  Georgia  and  reported,  li  I  am  satisfied  that  the 
mass  of  thinking  men  of  the  South  accept  the  pres 
ent  situation  of  affairs  in  good  faith."  Not  only 
were  slavery  and  secession  settled  forever,  but  Grant 
found  many  who  concluded  that  the  decision  was 
fortunate  for  the  whole  country. 

On  the  other  hand,  Carl  Schurz,  a  German  by 
birth  whose  love  of  liberty  had  compelled  him  to 
flee  to  this  country,  where  he  had  become  one  of  the 
founders  of  the  Eepublican  party  and  later  a  dis- 


284  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

tiuguished  military  leader, — reported  that  while 
there  was  uo  danger  of  another  insurrection  against 
the  authority  of  the  United  States,  yet  the  rapid  re 
turn  to  power  of  those  who  had  but  recently  been 
engaged  in  a  bitter  war  against  the  Union,  had 
counteracted  any  sentiment  that  treason  was  odious, 
or  that  rebellion  was  criminal.  Moreover  the  dis 
tressing  economic  condition  of  the  negro  hindered 
his  proper  development  under  his  new  freedom. 

Upon  the  opening  of  Congress,  Johnson  sent  a 
message  (recently  discovered  to  have  been  written 
by  the  eminent  historian,  George  Bancroft),  in 
which  the  arguments  in  favor  of  quick  reconstruc 
tion  were  admirably  summarized  and  in  which  he 
recommended  the  admittance  of  senators  and  repre 
sentatives  from  the  states  of  the  Confederacy.  But 
the  leaders  in  both  houses,  especially  Thaddeus 
Stevens  and  Charles  Sunnier,  were  radicals  and  dis 
trusted  the  President  as  a  former  Southern  Demo 
crat.  There  were  many  moderates  who  clearly 
recognized  that  the  supremacy  of  the  Republican 
party  was  possibly  at  stake.  Under  the  Constitu 
tion  prior  to  the  adoption  of  the  Fourteenth  Amend 
ment,  representation  was  based  upon  the  whole 
number  of  free  persons  and  three-fifths  of  all  others. 
Now  that  slavery  had  been  abolished,  the  represen 
tation  of  the  South  would  be  much  increased  and 
yet,  as  none  of  the  Southern  states  admitted  the 
negro  to  suffrage,  this  representation  would  be  out 
of  all  proportion  to  its  true  voting  power.  Thus 
the  South  would  still  have  the  preponderating  voice 


KECONSTKUCTION  285 

in  the  affairs  of  the  nation,  which  had  been  one  of 
the  chief  causes  of  irritation  before  the  war. 

There  was  additional  cause  for  alarm  in  the  so- 
called  "Black  Codes "  which  were  framed  by  the 
Southern  legislatures  in  1865-1866,  which  preserved 
the  substance  of  slavery  while  avoiding  the  name, 
and  which  restricted  the  rights  of  "  persons  of  color  " 
regarding  property  and  employment.  The  first  re 
sult  of  this  legislation  in  Congress  was  the  bill  to 
extend  the  term  and  enlarge  the  powers  of  the 
Freedmen's  Bureau.  On  February  19th,  Johnson 
vetoed  it  in  a  vigorous  message  which  had  the  ap 
proval  of  at  least  four  members  of  his  Cabinet,  and 
the  requisite  two-thirds  could  not  be  obtained  in 
the  Senate  to  pass  the  bill  over  his  veto.  It  was 
the  only  legislative  triumph  of  his  administration. 
Three  days  later  a  deputation  of  citizens  called  at 
the  White  House  to  endorse  his  action,  and  in  the 
speech  of  acknowledgment  the  President  allowed 
himself  to  become  abusive  and  personal  in  referring 
to  the  radical  leaders,  and  as  a  result  he  alienated 
many  conservatives  and  increased  the  popular  sus 
picion  of  his  policy. 

The  rupture  between  the  President  and  Congress 
proceeded  rapidly.  Both  houses  adopted  a  resolu 
tion  that  representatives  should  not  be  admitted 
from  the  Southern  states  until  Congress  had  declared 
such  state  entitled  to  representation.  Immediately 
thereafter,  Congress  passed  the  Civil  Eights  bill, 
many  of  the  provisions  of  which  are  embodied  in 
the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  and  when  Johnson 


286  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

again  used  his  veto  power,  a  two-thirds  vote  of  both 
houses  enacted  the  measure  into  law.  By  the  sum 
mer  of  1866  the  tension  was  sharply  drawn  and 
Congress  met  the  issue  by  proposing  the  Fourteenth 
Amendment,  which  made  all  persons  born  or  nat 
uralized  in  the  United  States,  regardless  of  color, 
citizens  both  of  the  nation  and  of  the  state.  Within 
recent  years  there  has  been  a  revival  of  interest  in 
the  problems  of  reconstruction  and  Johnson's  policy 
has  secured  many  eminent  advocates.  It  is  the  gen 
eral  feeling  of  his  partisans  that  if  he  had  now  ac 
cepted  the  Fourteenth  Amendment,  and  had  pub 
licly  advised  the  Southern  states  to  ratify  it  as  an 
additional  condition  of  readmission  to  the  Union, 
it  would  have  been  quickly  and  universally  accepted 
as  a  proper  basis  for  settlement.  Certainly  Ten 
nessee,  which  promptly  ratified  the  amendment,  had 
its  senators  and  representatives  to  Congress  seated 
at  once.  But  Johnson  was  not  willing  to  recognize 
his  defeat,  and  the  Southern  states  hoped  through 
his  influence  for  easier  terms.  More  and  more, 
therefore,  the  President  was  forced  into  a  position 
in  which  his  reliance  was  upon  the  opponents  of  the 
war,  and  as  a  consequence  the  radical  temper  of  the 
North  grew  stronger  and  more  bitter. 

After  Congress  adjourned  the  President  visited  a 
number  of  Northern  cities  speaking  in  defense  of 
his  policy.  With  members  of  his  Cabinet,  and 
Grant  and  Farragut  under  orders,  he  made  a  num 
ber  of  campaign  speeches  to  large  and  interested 
audiences.  Contemporary  accounts  differ  widely  as 


KECONSTRUCTION  287 

to  the  nature  of  these  addresses  and  their  reception. 
For  the  present  purpose,  it  is  sufficient  to  state  that 
Johnson  returned  to  Washington,  after  the  famous 
"  swing  round  the  circle,"  a  discredited  man  and  in 
the  elections  which  followed  the  radicals  strength 
ened  their  control  of  Congress. 

When  Congress  reassembled,  there  was  a  wide 
spread  conviction  in  the  North  that  the  only  way 
to  protect  the  negro  was  to  give  him  the  right  to 
vote.  Unquestionably  this  sentiment  had  been 
farthered  by  some  political  leaders  for  the  purpose 
of  insuring  the  continued  supremacy  of  the  Repub- 
lican  party,  but  it  was  also  based  upon  a  deep  fun 
damental  resolve  that  the  negro  should  be  given  a 
fair  chance  to  protect  himself.  This  influence  was 
soon  asserted  in  legislation.  An  act  establishing 
universal  suffrage  in  the  District  of  Columbia  was 
passed  over  the  President's  veto.  The  Military 
Reconstruction  Act,  which  divided  the  ten  unrecon 
structed  states  into  five  military  districts,  with  army 
commanders  to  enforce  peace  and  order,  likewise 
became  law,  without  the  President's  approval.  The 
Tenure  of  Office  Act,  which  limited  the  power  of 
the  President  to  make  removals  from  civil  offices, 
was  also  enacted.  The  effect  of  this  legislation  was 
to  place  the  entire  government  of  the  South  in  the 
hands  of  the  Army,  and  thus  was  inaugurated  the 
era  of  the  "  car  pet  -bagger,"  in  which  the  scanty  re 
sources  of  the  exhausted  Confederates  were  exploited 
for  personal  gain  by  adventurers  or  wasted  by  in 
experience  and  extravagance. 


288  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

During  this  controversy  Grant  was,  by  common 
consent,  the  foremost  citizen  of  the  republic.  On 
July  25,  1866,  he  had  been  commissioned  General 
of  the  Armies  of  the  United  States, — the  first  ap 
pointment  to  that  office.  Each  faction  used  its  best 
endeavors  to  secure  his  support  for  its  policy. 
Never  did  his  taciturnity  serve  him  to  better  pur 
pose.  When  partisans  approached  him,  striving  to 
commit  him  to  their  cause,  he  replied  by  discussing 
horses, — with  him  a  favorite  topic.  Doubtless 
these  experiences  confirmed  him  in  the  aversion  for 
politicians  which  is  so  well- voiced  in  Sherman's 
letters.  When  Johnson  vetoed  negro  suffrage  in 
the  District  of  Columbia,  Grant  commended  his 
action,  but  with  military  directness  confined  him 
self  to  his  orders  and  refused  to  announce  his  views 
publicly.  Prom  this  time  there  was  much  discus 
sion  of  his  name  in  connection  with  the  Presidency, 
and  both  Republicans  and  Democrats  were  keen  to 
learn  into  which  camp  he  would  go. 

There  can  be  little  question  but  that  Johnson  was 
responsible  for  driving  Grant  into  the  radical  camp. 
He  had  compelled  Grant  to  accompany  him  on  his 
political  circuit,  but  Grant  steadfastly  refused  to 
speak.  Later  he  ordered  Grant  to  Mexico  to  escort 
the  newly  appointed  minister  to  the  court  of  Juarez. 
Thinking  that  this  mission  was  a  part  of  a  plan  to 
remove  him  from  Washington,  Grant  refused  to  go, 
taking  the  ground  that  he  could  not  be  expected  to 
perform  a  civil  mission.  This  might  have  led  to  a 
serious  breach,  but  Sherman  relieved  the  tension 


RECONSTRUCTION  289 

by  volunteering  in  the  place  of  his  friend.  The 
climax  of  the  whole  struggle  caine  in  August,  1867, 
when  Johnson  suspended  Stanton,  who  was  the  rec 
ognized  radical  representative  in  his  Cabinet,  and 
appointed  Grant  Secretary  of  War  ad  interim. 

This  appointment  brought  the  whole  controversy 
between  the  President  and  Congress  to  a  head,  for 
the  radicals  asserted  that  it  was  a  violation  of  the 
Tenure  of  Office  Act.  There  was  no  disposition  to 
criticize  the  appointment  of  Grant  and  during  the 
five  months  of  his  service  the  duties  of  the  office 
were  well  performed.  But  when  Congress  reassem 
bled  in  December,  the  Senate  disapproved  of  Stau- 
ton's  suspension,  and  Grant  at  once  surrendered  the 
keys  of  the  office  and  vacated  it.  A  few  weeks 
later  Johnson  again  removed  Stanton  and  appointed 
Adjutant-General  Thomas  as  his  successor.  This 
gave  rise  to  the  famous  impeachment,  which  was 
instituted  and  tried  in  the  spring  of  1868,  and  in 
which  by  a  single  vote  the  radicals  failed  to  con 
vict  the  President. 

One  phase  of  this  involved  contest  gave  rise  to  a 
bitter  dispute  between  Johnson  and  Grant  on  a 
question  of  veracity.  Johnson  said  that  when 
Grant  was  appointed  Secretary  of  War,  he  had 
promised  not  to  vacate  to  Stantou  if  the  Senate  re 
fused  to  concur,  but  to  submit  to  a  civil  suit  in  the 
courts  which  would  have  provided  a  proper  test  for 
the  constitutionality  of  the  Tenure  of  Office  Act. 
The  diary  of  Gideon  Welles,  who  was  an  intense 
partisan  of  the  President,  illustrates  the  change  in 


290  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

attitude  toward  Grant  as  it  became  increasingly 
evident  that  the  radicals  would  support  his  candi 
dacy  for  the  Presidency.  Thus,  on  December  24, 
1867, — "I  am  becoming  impressed  with  the  idea 
that  Grant  may  prove  a  dangerous  man.  He  is 
devoid  of  patriotism,  is  ignorant  but  cunning,  yet 
greedy  for  office  and  power.'7 

After  Stanton  had  returned  to  the  Secretaryship 
Johnson  summoned  Grant  to  a  Cabinet  meeting, 
where  he  was  interrogated  by  the  President  as  to 
the  understanding  at  the  time  of  his  appointment. 
Grant  admitted  that  he  had  promised  to  give  the 
President  notice  before  relinquishing  his  office  ;  but 
afterward  upon  examining  the  provisions  of  the 
Tenure  of  Office  Act,  he  had  become  convinced  that 
this  course  of  action  would  make  him  liable  to  fine 
and  imprisonment.  Furthermore,  he  said  that  he 
had  advised  the  President  of  this  conclusion,  both 
directly  and  through  General  Sherman.  A  few 
days  later  one  of  the  newspapers  published  an 
editorial  attack  upon  Grant  accusing  him  of  equiv 
ocation  and  bad  faith.  This  was  afterward  en 
dorsed  by  four  members  of  the  Cabinet,  who  had 
been  present  during  Grant's  last  interview  with 
Johnson.  Grant  replied  with  a  letter  to  the  Presi 
dent  in  which  he  defended  his  honor  as  a  soldier 
and  his  integrity  as  a  man,  declaring  that, — "The 
course  you  would  have  it  understood  I  agreed  to 
pursue  was  in  violation  of  law  and  without  orders 
from  you,  while  the  course  I  did  pursue,  and  which 
I  never  doubted  you  fully  understood,  was  in  ac- 


RECONSTRUCTION  291 

cordance  with  law,  and  not  in  disobedience  of  any 
orders  of  ray  superior."  The  net  result  of  the  con 
troversy  was  to  embroil  Grant  in  the  partisan  poli 
tics  which  he  had  consistently  tried  to  avoid. 
Henceforth  he  became  a  bitter  opponent  of  Johnson 
and  an  advocate  of  impeachment.  The  supporters 
of  the  President  declared  that  Grant  had  made  a 
"  fool  of  himself,"  and  that  the  radicals  were  using 
him  as  a  "tool."  "Prevarication  and  downright 
falsehood,  with  deception  and  treachery  toward  his 
chief,"  declared  Welles,  in  the  confidence  of  his 
diary,  i  i  mark  the  conduct  of  U.  S.  Grant. " 

Distressing  as  this  episode  must  have  been,  it  did 
not  hurt  Grant  with  the  great  mass  of  the  people. 
It  was  generally  felt  that  Johnson  had  tried  to  in 
volve  the  popular  general  in  his  own  political 
quarrel,  and,  while  Grant  had  not  shown  much 
political  acumen  in  avoiding  the  question,  that  he 
was  undoubtedly  honest  and  patriotic,  and  had  ex 
hibited  a  strong  will. 

While  the  impeachment  was  being  tried,  public 
meetings  all  over  the  country  were  indorsing  Grant 
as  a  candidate  for  the  Presidency.  The  radicals 
dominated  the  Republican  party,  and  no  other  can 
didate  was  even  considered.  In  October,  1867, 
John  A.  Andrew,  the  war-governor  of  Massachu 
setts,  declared  that  "  the  tendency  of  the  hour  is 
toward  Grant,  and  that  is  best."  In  May,  1868, 
shortly  after  the  Senate  had  voted  on  the  articles 
of  impeachment,  Grant  was  unanimously  nominated 
by  the  Eepublican  convention  at  Chicago.  Schuy- 


292  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

ler  Colfax,  who  had  long  been  Speaker  of  the  House 
of  Eepresentatives,  was  nominated  for  the  Vice- 
Presidency.  The  Democratic  convention  placed  in 
nomination  for  the  Presidency,  Horatio  Seymour 
of  New  York,  and  for  the  Vice- Presidency,  Francis 
P.  Blair  of  Missouri.  Grant's  letter  of  acceptance 
was  memorable  for  its  commendable  brevity  and  the 
COD  eluding  sentence — '*  Let  us  have  peace." 

In  the  campaign  which  followed  he  took  little 
part,  spending  most  of  his  time  at  Galena.  The 
Democratic  platform  declared  for  a  reversal  of  the 
reconstruction  policy  of  Congress,  so  that  the  parties 
were  aptly  characterized  as  " Grant  and  Peace" 
versus  i '  Blair  and  Eevolution. 7 '  Despite  the  enthu 
siasm  and  energy  of  the  Democrats,  there  was  little 
doubt  as  to  the  result.  The  Republican  ticket  re 
ceived  the  vote  of  twenty-six  states,  having  214 
electoral  votes,  while  Seymour  received  but  80. 
The  popular  majority  was  309,584.  Three  of  the 
Southern  states,  as  yet  unreconstructed,  Virginia, 
Mississippi  and  Texas,  did  not  take  part  in  the  elec 
tion.  Of  the  Southern  states,  Grant  carried  North 
and  South  Carolina,  Florida,  Alabama,  Arkansas 
and  Tennessee. 

It  was  not,  therefore,  as  the  leader  of  a  faction, 
but  as  the  foremost  citizen  of  the  Republic,  that 
Grant  assumed  the  highest  office  in  the  gift  of  his 
countrymen. 


CHAPTEE  XIII 

EIGHT  YEARS  AS  PRESIDENT 

"  MY  own  opinion  is  that,  considering  the  state 
of  the  country,  Grant  will  make  the  best  President 
we  can  get.  What  we  want  in  national  politics  is 
quiet,  harmony  and  stability,  and  these  are  more 
likely  with  Grant  than  any  politician  I  know  of.7' 
So  wrote  Sherman  in  the  summer  of  1868.  It  was 
the  expression  of  an  opinion  based  upon  a  most  inti 
mate  knowledge  of  the  man,  and  a  close  observation 
of  conditions  in  Washington,  and  it  phrases  fairly 
the  general  expectation  of  the  country.  Grant's 
inexperience  in  civil  administration  was  conceded, 
but  his  strong  will  was  also  known  ;  his  lack  of 
knowledge  of  political  finesse  was  admitted,  but  his 
rugged  patriotism  had  been  proven.  He  was  elected, 
therefore,  with  full  information  of  both  strength  and 
weakness,  and  if  his  administration  of  the  affairs  of 
the  country  along  some  lines  is  censured  by  the 
judgment  of  history,  it  must  at  least  be  granted,  in 
his  favor,  that  he  did  his  best,  and  never  despaired 
of  the  future  of  his  country. 

His  inauguration  was  characterized  by  one  inci 
dent  which  showed  his  intense  resentment  of  any 
criticism  of  personal  integrity.  Custom  had  pre 
scribed  that  the  outgoing  executive  and  the  new 


294  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

President  should  ride  together  to  the  Capitol,  but 
Grant  refused  to  accompany  his  predecessor,  or  to 
recognize  in  any  way  either  Johnson  or  those  mem 
bers  of  the  Cabinet  who  had  joined  in  the  hostile 
statement  about  the  Cabinet  imbroglio.  The  in 
augural  address  was  calm  and  dispassionate  in  tone, 
without  striking  recommendations  or  phrases,  ex 
cept  perhaps  one  sentence,  which  brought  to  mind 
the  troubles  which  had  just  been  concluded.  "I 
shall  have  a  policy  to  recommend,"  he  said,  "  but 
none  to  enforce  against  the  will  of  the  people." 
The  solemn  oath  of  office  was  pronounced,  and 
Grant  was  now  confronted  with  a  new  and  strange 
task,  for  which  his  previous  training  gave  him  no 
adequate  preparation. 

It  will  be  convenient  to  treat  his  two  administra 
tions  of  the  presidency  as  a  unit,  and  to  consider 
the  various  questions  presented  topically,  so  as  to 
maintain  the  continuity  of  subject,  even  though 
chronological  sequence  be  sacrificed. 

There  had  been  considerable  curiosity  concerning 
the  membership  in  the  Cabinet,  which  remained 
unsatisfied  until  the  nominations  were  sent  to  the 
Senate.  Grant  had  entered  upon  his  new  work 
with  a  profound  distrust  for  the  tactics  of  politicians 
based  upon  his  experiences  in  Washington  during 
the  previous  years.  He  had  consequently  advised 
with  no  one  and  had  avoided  confidences  with  the 
party  leaders.  It  was  not  surprising,  therefore,  that 
he  made  mistakes  which  served  to  open  the  vials  of 
public  criticism.  For  Secretary  of  State  he  nomi- 


EIGHT  YEARS  AS  PRESIDENT        295 

nated  Washburne,  for  many  years  the  Congressman 
from  his  home  district,  to  whose  zealous  friendship 
Grant  owed  his  first  opportunities  for  public  service. 
This  appointment  was  intended  as  a  personal  com 
pliment,  for  Washburne  was  really  destined  for  the 
diplomatic  service  and  desired  the  preliminary  ap 
pointment  of  the  Secretaryship,  to  add  to  his  pres 
tige  abroad.  After  a  few  days  he  resigned  to  serve 
as  the  Minister  to  France,  but  he  utilized  his  brief 
term  to  make  a  number  of  personal  appointments. 
This  use  of  public  office  as  a  means  of  discharging 
personal  or  political  obligations,  while  common  at 
the  time,  reacted  unfavorably  upon  public  senti 
ment  which  had  hoped  for  higher  conceptions  of 
efficiency. 

After  Washburne  resigned,  Grant  approached 
James  F.  Wilson,  and  upon  his  declination  nomi 
nated  ex-Governor  Hamilton  Fish,  of  New  York,  a 
man  of  commanding  ability  and  sterling  character 
who  was  extremely  reluctant  to  accept  a  position 
thus  cheapened  in  the  public  mind,  but  who  finally 
yielded  to  Grant's  necessity.  It  was  a  fortunate 
conclusion,  for  the  most  notable  success  of  the  ad 
ministration  was  the  direct  result  of  Fish's  capacity 
and  personality. 

Alexander  T.  Stewart,  the  leading  merchant  of 
New  York  City,  was  nominated  for  the  Treasury, 
and  with  the  others,  was  immediately  confirmed. 
Two  days  later  it  was  discovered  that  under  the 
Act  of  September  2,  1789,  Stewart,  as  an  importer 
of  foreign  goods,  was  not  eligible  for  the  post.  He 


296  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

offered  to  place  his  business  in  trust,  and  give  the 
proceeds  to  charity  during  his  service,  and  Grant 
recommended  that  a  special  resolution  be  enacted, 
exempting  Stewart  from  the  operation  of  the  Act. 
This  extraordinary  procedure  was  not  followed, 
although  a  bill  was  considered  repealing  such  of  the 
provisions  of  the  law  as  made  Stewart  ineligible ; 
eventually  reflection  brought  a  conviction  of  the  in- 
advisability  of  passing  an  act  for  the  benefit  of  an 
individual,  and  Stewart  resigned.  His  place  was 
filled  by  the  appointment  of  George  S.  Boutwell,  of 
Massachusetts,  one  of  the  leaders  of  the  House,  and 
a  manager  of  the  Johnson  impeachment. 

Bawlius  was  named  as  Secretary  of  War,  and  his 
intimate  relationship  with  Grant  justified  the  ap 
pointment.  In  the  Navy,  Adolph  E.  Borie,  of 
Pennsylvania,  a  capitalist  without  any  public  ex 
perience,  was  appointed.  John  A.  J.  Creswell,  of 
Maryland,  was  named  as  Postmaster-General,  Gen 
eral  Jacob  D.  Cox,  of  Ohio,  for  the  Interior,  and 
E.  Eockwood  Hoar,  of  Massachusetts,  a  worthy 
representative  of  a  distinguished  family,  as  Attor 
ney-General.  The  last  two,  with  Fish,  were  the 
strong  men  of  the  Administration,  which  might 
have  been  spared  many  troubles  if  their  services  had 
continued  until  the  end. 

In  general  the  Cabinet  was  disappointing  ;  the 
difficulty  in  adjusting  the  two  most  important  port 
folios,  and  the  preponderance  of  millionaires  and 
personal  friends  caused  much  criticism,  and  later, 
the  frequent  changes  intensified  this  dissatisfaction. 


EIGHT  YEARS  AS  PRESIDENT        297 

Moreover,  the  personal  appointments  in  the  house 
hold  of  the  President  were  taken  largely  from  the 
military  staff,  and  this  prevented  confidential  rela 
tions  with  Congressmen.  In  England,  where  the 
members  of  the  Cabinet  are  taken  from  the  Parlia 
ment,  the  views  of  the  executive  are  naturally  trans 
mitted  to  the  legislature  through  official  channels  ; 
but  in  the  United  States,  a  Cabinet  officer  holds  an 
administrative  position  purely,  responsible  only  to 
his  chief  j  and  when  the  Cabinet  is  inexperienced, 
there  is  always  a  danger  of  an  irresponsible  "  kitchen 
cabinet,"  of  those  who  are  nearest  to  the  President. 
During  the  eight  years  of  Grant's  administration, 
the  seven  portfolios  were  occupied  by  twenty-four 
men,  a  larger  number  than  in  any  other  period.  In 
1870,  Hoar  was  summarily  requested  to  resign,  with 
out  the  slightest  dissatisfaction  with  his  services,  in 
order  to  provide  room  for  a  Southern  representative. 
A  few  months  later,  Cox  resigned,  after  a  vain  at 
tempt  to  resist  political  pressure  in  the  many  ap 
pointments  of  his  department.  It  is  evident  that 
when  the  average  term  of  the  members  of  the  Cabi 
net  was  but  little  over  two  years,  there  was  slight 
opportunity  for  familiarity  with  the  business  of  the 
office  and  to  determine  the  proper  policy.1 

1  In  Elaine's  "  Twenty  Years  of  Congress,"  Vol.  II,  pp.  538- 
539,  there  is  this  comment  on  Grant's  Cabinets. 

The  following  are  the  members  of  General  Grant's 
Cabinet,  the  changes  in  which  were  in  the  aggregate 
more  numerous  than  in  the  Cabinet  of  any  of  his 
predecessors  : 

Secretaries  of  State— Elihu  B.  Washburne,  Hamilton 
Fish. 


298  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

While  the  uncertainty  of  tenure  and  the  military 
character  of  the  environment  introduced  new  ele 
ments  into  the  life  of  statesmen,  yet  their  personal 
relations  with  Grant  were  always  cordial  and  pleas 
ant.  With  those  in  whom  he  trusted,  his  natural 
diffidence  of  manner  disappeared,  and  he  talked 
fluently  and  helpfully  on  many  themes.  The  last 
survivor  of  the  group,  J.  Donald  Cameron,  after 
ward  for  twenty  years  a  Senator  from  Pennsylvania, 
has  borne  witness  to  the  stimulus  which  he  and  his 
colleagues  received  from  the  President  in  every 
question  which  Grant's  previous  experience  fitted 
him  to  decide,  and  the  cordial  relations  of  each,  ex 
cept  Bristow,  to  his  chief. 

Hamilton  Fish  was  soon  regarded  as  one  of  the 

Secretaries    of    the    Treasury — George    S.    Boutwell, 
William  A.  Richardson,  Benjamin  H.  Bristow,  Lot 
M.  Merrill. 
Secretaries  of   War — John   A.    Rawlins,  William   N. 

Belknap,  Alphonso  Taft,  James  Donald  Cameron. 
Secretaries  of  the  Navy — Adolph  E.  Borie,  George  M. 

Robeson. 
Postmasters-General — John  A.  J.  Creswell.  James  W. 

Marshall,  Marshall  Jewell,  James  N.  Tyner. 
Attorneys-General — E.  Rockwood  Hoar,  Amos  T.  Ack- 
erman,   George  H.  Williams,  Edwards  Pierrepout, 
Alphonso  Taft. 
Secretaries  of  the  Interior — Jacob  D.  Cox,  Columbus 

Delano,  Zachariah  Chandler. 

By  this  it  will  be  seen  that  twenty-four  Cabinet  officers  served 
under  General  Grant.  But  this  number  does  not  include  Alex 
ander  T.  Stewart,  who  though  confirmed  did  not  enter  upon 
his  duties  as  Secretary  of  the  Treasury  ;  or  General  Sherman, 
who  was  Secretary  of  War  ad  interim  ;  or  Eugene  Hale,  who 
was  appointed  Postmaster-General,  but  never  entered  upon 
service.  Mr.  Taft  is  counted  only  once,  though  he  served  in 
two  Departments. 


EIGHT  YEAES  AS  PEESIDENT        299 

capable  men  of  the  Administration.  He  had  served 
in  the  Legislature  of  his  State,  as  Governor,  as  rep 
resentative  in  Congress,  and  as  Senator,  so  that  he 
was  well  fitted  to  appreciate  the  point  of  view  of 
both  executive  and  legislator.  The  most  serious 
problem  in  his  department  related  to  the  claims 
upon  England  arising  out  of  the  depredations  of 
the  Alabama  and  other  English-built  Confederate 
privateers  against  the  commerce  of  the  United 
States.  As  soon  as  the  Civil  War  had  been  con 
cluded,  there  was  a  general  conviction  that  England 
and  France  must  be  brought  to  account  for  their 
unfriendly  attitude  toward  the  North,  and  for  hav 
ing  accorded  to  the  Confederates  the  rights  of  bel 
ligerents.  The  general  exasperation  with  these 
powers,  aided  by  the  desire  to  assert  the  Monroe 
Doctrine,  had  already  led  to  the  overthrow  of  Max 
imilian,  and  also  to  the  presentation  of  a  series  of 
claims  to  the  British  Government.  In  the  last 
months  of  the  Johnson  Administration,  a  treaty  pro 
viding  for  a  joint  commission  to  consider  claims  was 
negotiated  and  signed  by  Eeverdy  Johnson  and 
Lord  Clarendon.  But  when  this  treaty  was  sub 
mitted  to  the  Senate,  it  was  rejected  almost  unani 
mously  as  wholly  inadequate. 

In  the  debate  upon  this  proposed  treaty,  Sumner 
made  a  speech  which  was  afterward  published  and 
which  attracted  universal  attention  upon  both  sides 
of  the  Atlantic,  and  in  which  he  expressed  the 
claim  of  the  United  States,  to  cover  not  only  dam 
ages  for  the  direct  losses  occasioned  by  these  priva- 


300  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

teers,  but  also  indirect  damages  for  the  loss  to  the 
merchant  marine  and  for  doubling  the  duration  of 
the  war.  Sumner  had  reached  the  conclusion  that 
the  proper  recompense  for  the  whole  claim,  which 
by  his  computation  ran  into  an  enormous  sum,  was 
Canada,  and  running  through  his  addresses  on  this 
subject  was  the  idea  that  Great  Britain  should 
withdraw  her  flag  from  the  American  Continent. 
These  demands,  however  equitable  in  principle, 
were  so  great  as  to  become  preposterous,  and  the 
English  Government  refused  to  consider  them.  The 
troubled  state  of  affairs  in  Europe,  however,  em 
phasized  the  advisability  of  settling  all  disputes 
with  the  United  States.  With  the  wars  which 
characterized  the  readjustment  of  the  balance  of 
power  in  Europe,  England  had  become  isolated, 
and  if  involved  in  war,  the  United  States  could 
have  wrecked  her  foreign  commerce  by  applying 
the  same  principles  and  permitting  the  same  prac 
tices  as  had  prevailed  in  England  during  the  Civil 
War. 

This  was  the  situation  when  Fish  took  up  the 
matter.  He  early  realized  that  it  would  not  be  pos 
sible  to  assert  a  claim  which  was  based  upon  the 
extreme  limit  of  Sumner's  demands.  In  the  spring 
of  1871,  his  efforts  culminated  in  the  meeting  of  the 
Joint  High  Commission,  consisting  of  five  repre 
sentatives  of  each  nation,  to  arrange  a  treaty  to 
provide  a  mode  of  settlement  for  all  differences. 
The  work  proceeded  rapidly  and  in  May  the  treaty 
was  laid  before  the  Senate.  In  the  opening  article, 


EIGHT  YEAKS  AS  PBESIDENT        301 

regret  was  expressed  for  the  escape  of  the  Alabama 
and  other  vessels  from  British  ports,  rules  govern 
ing  the  conduct  of  neutrals  in  time  of  war  were  pre 
scribed  and  arrangements  made  for  a  tribunal  of 
arbitration  to  meet  at  Geneva  to  pass  upon  the 
claims. 

This  treaty  was  a  great  advance  upon  the  existing 
methods  of  determining  international  disputes.  Not 
only  was  the  principle  of  arbitration  accepted,  but 
the  creation  of  a  new  tribunal  as  an  international 
court  of  justice  was  authorized.  The  arbitrators 
were  appointed  by  the  President  of  the  United 
States,  Her  Britannic  Majesty,  the  King  of  Italy, 
the  President  of  the  Swiss  Confederation,  and  the 
Emperor  of  Brazil.  In  its  opening  stages,  the  ar 
bitration  encountered  one  serious  obstacle  which 
came  near  to  wrecking  any  adjustment.  When  the 
claim  of  the  United  States  was  presented,  the  in 
direct  or  national  claims  were  included  in  addition 
to  the  direct  losses.  The  representatives  of  England 
felt  that  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  proceed  with 
an  arbitration  which  might  involve  the  payment  of 
a  gigantic  indemnity.  On  the  other  hand,  the 
American  agents  urged  with  equal  force  that  they 
could  not  renounce  a  portion  of  the  claim  in  ad 
vance  of  a  decision.  Eventually  Charles  Francis 
Adams,  who  was  the  American  arbitrator,  suggested 
that  the  Tribunal  itself  should  issue  a  preliminary 
decision  that  the  indirect  claims  were  inadmissible. 
By  unanimous  vote  this  suggestion  was  adopted  and 
the  testimony  was  presented.  The  Tribunal  awarded 


302  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

the  sum  of  $15,500,000  to  be  paid  in  gold  by  Great 
Britain  to  the  United  States  for  the  damages  caused 
by  the  Florida,  Alabama  and  Shenandoah. 

This  conclusion  of  an  international  difficulty  of 
grave  moment  was  well  received  in  both  countries 
and  added  materially  to  the  prestige  of  the  Grant 
Administration.  While  the  President  had  little  to 
do  with  the  details  of  negotiation,  he  gave  his 
earnest  support  to  Fish  and  Adams  and  continually 
encouraged  the  endeavor  to  find  a  peaceful  solution. 

The  other  developments  in  the  field  of  international 
relations  were  not  so  satisfactory.  Early  in  the 
administration,  General  Babcock,  assistant  private 
secretary  to  the  President,  went  to  San  Domingo 
and,  although  wholly  unauthorized,  conducted  a 
treaty  for  the  annexation  of  the  republic.  When 
he  returned  Fish  resented  so  strongly  this  irregular 
transaction  that  he  presented  his  resignation  as 
Secretary,  but  Grant  persuaded  him  to  withdraw  it 
and  eventually  Fish  became  an  earnest  advocate  of 
the  San  Domingo  treaty.  In  the  Senate,  however, 
it  met  with  tremendous  opposition  which  was  led  by 
the  chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations, 
Charles  Sumner.  Making  the  issue  personal,  Grant 
called  on  Sumner  and  asked  for  his  support.  Years 
after  Grant  said  to  James  Russell  Lowell,  "  Sumner 
is  the  only  man  I  was  ever  anything  but  my  real 
self  to ;  the  only  man  I  ever  tried  to  conciliate  by 
artificial  means."  But  Sumner  was  obdurate  and 
when  the  treaty  was  considered  in  the  Senate  his 
voice  led  the  opposition.  So  bitter  was  he  in  his 


EIGHT  YEAES  AS  PEESIDENT        303 

presentation  that  in  March,  1871,  Grant  insisted 
upon  his  deposition  from,  the  chairmanship  of  the 
Committee  on  Foreign  Eelations.  That  this  change 
could  have  been  made  in  the  conservative  Senate 
is  an  apt  illustration  of  the  power  of  the  President, 
but  that  the  policy  of  reprisal  thus  inaugurated  was 
a  grave  error  there  can  be  no  doubt.  Eventually  a 
commission  was  appointed  to  visit  San  Domingo 
and  to  report  upon  the  desirability  of  annexation, 
and,  although  the  report  was  favorable,  the  public 
had  become  disgusted  with  the  imbroglio  and  the 
matter  was  allowed  to  drop. 

During  most  of  this  administration  the  Cubans 
were  engaged  in  an  uprising  against  the  power  of 
Spain.  Grant  desired  to  recognize  the  Eebels  as 
belligerents,  but  Fish  pursued  a  policy  of  neutrality. 
In  1873  a  filibusterer,  the  Virginius,  flying  the 
American  flag,  was  captured  and  a  large  number  of 
the  crew  condemned  by  court-martial  and  shot. 
Fish  instantly  protested  and  the  outburst  of  popular 
indignation  was  so  great  that  the  navy  was  put  on  a 
war  footing.  Eventually  the  Virginius,  and  the 
survivors  of  her  passengers  and  crew  were  restored 
to  freedom  and  with  proper  apologies  on  the  part  of 
the  Spanish  government,'  the  affair  came  to  an  end. 

During  this  administration  the  Empire  of  Napoleon 
III  was  overthrown  and  the  German  Empire  was 
proclaimed  at  Versailles.  When  hostilities  com 
menced  the  American  ministers  in  both  Paris  and 
Berlin  were  selected  to  represent  the  combating 
powers.  This  war  had  a  curious  effect  upon  Ameri- 


304  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

can  politics,  for  in  the  campaign  of  1872  an  endeavor 
was  made  to  divert  the  German  vote  from  Grant  on 
the  ground  that  he  had  sold  arms  to  France,  and  at 
the  same  time  he  was  seriously  criticized  for  having 
congratulated  the  first  Kaiser  upon  the  assumption 
of  the  Imperial  dignity.  In  pro-French  circles  it 
was  erroneously  reported  that  Grant  congratulated 
the  Kaiser  after  each  German  victory.  The  fact  is 
that  Grant  had  a  prejudice  against  Napoleon  which 
arose  out  of  the  Mexican  expedition,  but  in  spite  of 
this  feeling  there  was  no  valid  ground  for  attacking 
the  neutrality  of  the  United  States. 

With  the  award  of  the  Geneva  Arbitration,  the 
greatest  of  the  international  problems  arising  out  of 
the  Civil  War  was  satisfactorily  concluded.  But 
the  domestic  problems,  involving  the  mutual  rela 
tions  of  the  conquerors  and  the  conquered,  the  freed- 
men  and  their  former  masters,  were  not  so  quickly 
solved.  Every  great  war  is  attended  with  more  or 
less  social  demoralization,  and  the  Civil  War  was 
no  exception.  During  the  crisis  men  developed  as 
leaders  who  had  not  the  capacity  for  the  more  dif 
ficult  task  of  rebuilding  the  civic  fabric.  The  atten 
tion  of  voters  had  been  focussed  upon  the  national 
government  and,  profiting  by  the  relative  in- 
difiference  to  local  affairs,  ambitious  and  unscrup 
ulous  men  developed  as  political  leaders  in  city 
and  state,  and  organized  local  machines,  ostensibly 
to  help  the  party  of  their  loyalty,  but  in  reality  to 
rob  the  taxpayer.  Moreover,  in  the  universality 
of  popular  satisfaction  over  the  outcome  of  the 


EIGHT  YEAES  AS  PRESIDENT        305 

struggle,  men  tolerated  minor  abuses  that  in  ordinary 
times  would  have  led  to  bitter  opposition  and  revolt. 
It  was  Grant's  misfortune  that  his  administration 
came  in  this  period  of  disorganization  and  recon 
struction,  and  the  worst  that  can  be  said  of  him  is 
that  he  was  unable  to  control  the  vices  of  his  times. 
To  say  that  any  other  would  have  had  greater 
success  would  be  unfair  and,  in  the  measure  of 
chances  in  politics,  probably  untrue.  Without 
condoning  the  defects  of  his  administration,  it 
shoiild  be  said  in  justice  that  not  a  cent  of  u  graft " 
ever  reached  him  or  his  immediate  family,  that  on 
fundamental  questions  he  arrived  at  quick  and 
generally  righteous  conclusion,  and  that  most  of  his 
mistakes  proceeded  from  one  of  the  finest  attributes 
that  human  nature  can  possess, — an  abiding  loyalty 
to  tested  friends. 

As  a  result  of  the  long  controversy  with  Johnson, 
congressional  reconstruction  had  won,  and  in  order 
that  the  states  of  the  Confederacy  should  be  restored 
to  full  standing  as  members  of  the  Union,  the  con 
sent  of  Congress  was  indispensable.  In  general, 
under  the  direction  of  the  military  commanders 
who  presided  in  the  various  districts,  new  constitu 
tions  were  formed,  which  accepted  the  provisions  of 
the  Fourteenth  Amendment.  Then  new  voting 
constituencies  were  organized,  from  which  those 
who  had  been  active  in  the  Confederacy  were  ex 
cluded,  and  the  negroes  were  included.  Thus  the 
paramount  power  in  the  reconstructed  states  was 
given  to  a  class  absolutely  without  political  experi- 


306  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT" 

ence,  while  the  natural  leaders  of  the  community, 
many  of  whom  were  prepared  to  support  the  new 
order  of  things  loyally,  were  excluded  from  control. 
But  civic  efficiency  cannot  be  developed  by  legisla 
tive  fiat,  and  as  a  result,  many  mistakes  were  made 
in  establishing  the  reconstructed  governments,  and 
the  already  exhausted  South  paid  a  heavy  penalty. 
In  some  states,  political  soldiers  of  fortune  from  the 
North,  taking  advantage  of  the  inexperience  of  the 
negroes,  established  the  reign  of  the  "carpet-bag 
gers,"  and  waste,  extravagance  and  "graft"  ran 
riot.  Then  when  the  story  of  the  sufferings  of  the 
South  aroused  some  real  sympathy  in  the  North, 
there  would  be  an  outbreak  of  negro  intimidation 
and  terrorism,  such  as  the  depredations  of  the  no 
torious  Ku-Klux  Klan,  and  the  military  rule  would 
be  appealed  to  as  the  only  authority  which  could 
give  real  freedom  to  the  negroes.  It  was  a  dark 
hour  in  the  country's  history,  and  the  lesson  of 
moderation  which  it  teaches  ought  never  to  be  for 
gotten. 

With  the  legislation  of  his  party,  Grant  was  now 
in  full  sympathy.  The  Fifteenth  Amendment, 
which  prohibited  any  discrimination  in  the  suf 
frage,  on  the  ground  of  race,  color  or  previous  con 
dition  of  servitude,  was  proclaimed  in  effect  on 
March  30,  1870,  and  with  its  adoption  the  constitu 
tional  changes  arising  out  of  the  war  were  concluded. 
Various  civil  rights  and  enforcement  bills  were  en 
acted  into  law.  But  while  there  can  be  no  doubt 
as  to  the  patriotism  and  sincerity  of  the  statesmen 


EIGHT  YEAES  AS  PRESIDENT        307 

who  urged  this  legislation,  it  is  equally  true  that 
many  of  those  who  were  most  vicious  in  keeping 
alive  the  war  issues  were  actuated  strongly  by  the 
desire  to  build  up  their  own  political  party  in  the 
South,  under  the  protection  of  the  national  soldiery. 

The  dissatisfaction  with  conditions  in  the  South, 
together  with  a  growing  conviction  as  to  the  inef 
ficiency  of  the  administration,  led  to  a  great  reform 
movement  in  1872,  which  called  itself  Liberal  Re 
publican.  It  was  not  so  much  an  opposition  to 
Eepublican  principles  as  it  was  opposition  to  the 
practices  of  the  Eepublican  party  machine,  with 
which  Grant  was  at  this  time  identified  in  the  pub 
lic  eye. 

It  is  not  easy  to  be  a  reformer,  especially  when 
one  is  called  upon  to  break  with  a  historic  party 
whose  traditions  of  service  and  achievement  have 
been  a  real  asset  to  the  nation.  Many  of  those  who 
were  leaders  among  the  Liberals  had  formerly  sup 
ported  Grant,  and  now  joined  the  opposition  with 
genuine  regret.  Especially  in  New  England,  where 
Sumner  was  still  regarded  as  the  voice  of  the  ideals 
of  the  nation,  there  had  developed  the  conviction 
that  the  administration  was  a  failure.  "  Grant's 
surrender  to  the  politicians  was  an  unexpected  dis 
appointment,"  wrote  Norton  to  George  W.  Curtis. 
1  i  I  think  the  warmest  friends  of  Grant  feel  that  he 
has  failed  terribly  as  President,  not  from  want  of 
honesty  or  desire,  but  from  want  of  tact  and  great 
ignorance.  It  is  a  political  position,  and  he  knew 
nothing  of  politics  and  rather  despised  them." 


308  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

Such  was  the  statement  of  Curtis.  "  I  liked 
Grant,"  wrote  James  Eussell  Lowell,  "and  was 
struck  with  the  pathos  of  his  face  ;  a  puzzled 
pathos,  as  of  a  man  with  a  problem  before  him  of 
which  he  does  not  understand  the  terms. " 

In  large  measure,  these  opinions  were  the  out 
growth  of  a  general  conviction  that  the  civil  service 
needed  reformation,  and  that  all  executive  depart 
ments  had  been  weakened  by  the  unopposed  ag 
gressions  of  politicians,  who  demanded  office  for 
their  followers  as  the  reward  of  success.  At  first 
Grant  had  resisted  this  tendency,  and  in  his  Cabinet 
and  office  appointments  he  had  consulted  his  own 
judgment  solely  as  to  personal  fitness.  He  had  also 
appointed  a  civil  service  commission,  which,  under 
the  leadership  of  the  gifted  Curtis,  formulated  rules 
for  competitive  examinations.  But  the  pressure 
soon  grew  overwhelming,  and  was  greatest  from 
his  own  friends,  and  finally  the  merit  system  was 
ignored,  and  its  leading  advocates  in  the  Cabinet, 
Cox  and  Hoar,  summarily  dismissed.  Sherman 
stated  the  conditions  of  the  problem  with  his  usual 
terseness,  when  in  June,  1872,  he  wrote  from 
Vienna  : — "I  feel  for  General  Grant  in  his  sad  po 
sition.  When  he  entered  his  present  office  I  believe 
he  intended  what  he  said, — to  administer  his  office 
according  to  his  own  best  judgment, — but  he  soon 
found  that  he  reckoned  without  his  host,  that  Con 
gress  and  individual  senators  controlled  all  the  details 
of  government  and  that  if  he  did  not  concede  to  sen 
ators  and  representatives  the  appointing  power  they 


EIGHT  YEAKS  AS  PRESIDENT        309 

would  Johusonize  him.  In  trying  to  compromise 
this  difficulty,  he  has  more  and  more  departed  from 
his  true  course  and  now  a  few  designing  senators 
and  members  surround  him  and  he  cannot  see  be 
yond  them.  In  other  words, — as  is  the  case  here 
and  in  nearly  all  governments  wielding  power,  in 
fluence  and  money, — a  crowd  of  flatterers  surround 
him  and  he  cannot  know  the  whole  truth. " 

Moreover,  it  must  be  admitted  that  some  of 
Grant's  kindred  and  friends  abused  their  relation 
ship  to  the  President.  In  the  campaign  of  1872, 
pamphlets  were  issued,  charging  nepotism,  and  con 
taining  lists  of  relatives,  both  in  his  own  and  the 
Dent  family,  who  had  been  appointed  to  public 
office.  The  financial  chaos  of  "  Black  Friday,"  the 
Gould-Fisk  attempt  to  corner  gold  which  culminated 
in  September,  1869,  was  attributed  to  the  influence 
of  a  New  York  speculator,  who  had  married  into 
the  President's  family.  A  fine  sense  of  delicacy 
in  public  matters  would  probably  have  prevented 
Jesse  Grant  from  serving  as  postmaster  in  a  Ken 
tucky  town  as  a  part  of  the  administration  of  which 
his  son  was  the  chief.  But  these  were  evils  of  the 
time,  and  belonged  to  the  period  when  it  was  be 
lieved  that  any  one  could  fill  a  civil  office,  and  that 
consequently  these  positions  were  simply  personal 
perquisites. 

The  Liberal  movement  voiced  an  effective  protest 
against  the  political  demoralization  of  the  times. 
Under  the  leadership  of  Carl  Schurz,  and  with  the 
support  of  Charles  Francis  Adams,  Lyman  Trum- 


310  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

bull,  Stanley  Matthews  and  Horace  Greeley,  it 
called  for  a  higher  and  sobering  sense  of  civic  re 
sponsibility,  and  an  end  of  partisan  bitterness. 
When  its  candidate  for  the  Presidency,  Horace 
Greeley,  obtained  also  the  Democratic  nomination, 
on  a  platform  which  accepted  the  three  constitu 
tional  amendments  formulated  as  a  result  of  the 
war,  it  seemed  at  first  as  if  its  ticket  might  sweep 
the  country.  But  eventually,  more  conservative 
counsels  prevailed.  The  worst  of  Grant's  adminis 
tration  was  known,  while  no  one  could  tell  what 
Greeley,  an  idealist  without  administrative  experi 
ence,  would  do.  "He  is  better  than  Greeley,  who 
has  no  stability  at  all,"  wrote  Sherman,  and  so  the 
country  concluded. 

While  recognizing  the  strength  of  the  opposition, 
Grant  never  lost  faith  in  the  outcome.  Writing  to 
Washburne,  one  week  before  election,  he  said  : 
"Maryland,  West  Virginia,  Kentucky,  Tennessee, 
Georgia  and  Texas  will  probably  cast  their  votes 
for  Mr.  Greeley.  Missouri  will  do  the  same  thing. 
It  would  not  if  we  could  have  a  fair  election  through 
out  the  state.  Some  counties  in  that  state  are  as 
bad  as  any  portion  of  Georgia  and  may  lose  us  the 
electoral  vote.  Virginia  is  also  a  possible  state  for 
Mr.  Greeley,  though  the  chances  are  in  our  favor." 
Usually  a  candidate  is  the  worst  possible  judge  of 
his  own  chances  of  election,  but  in  this  case  Grant 
showed  a  political  prescience  that  was  remarkable. 
In  November,  1872,  he  carried  every  state,  except 
Maryland,  Kentucky,  Tennessee,  Georgia,  Texas  and 


EIGHT  YEAES  AS  PEESIDENT        311 

Missouri,  and  received  a  majority  of  the  popular 
vote  of  three-quarters  of  a  million.  Greeley,  over 
whelmed  by  the  death  of  his  wife  and  crushed  by  a 
defeat  which  to  him  was  unexpected,  was  unable  to 
rally  from  the  blow,  and  died  before  the  electoral 
college  assembled. 

The  second  term  commenced  with  general  good 
will.  In  his  inaugural,  Grant  referred  to  the  cam 
paign  with  unusual  feeling  :  "  Throughout  the  war 
and  from  my  candidacy  for  my  present  office  in 
1868  to  the  close  of  the  presidential  campaign,  I 
have  been  the  subject  of  abuse  and  slander  scarcely 
ever  equaled  in  political  history,  which  to-day  I 
feel  that  I  can  afford  to  disregard  in  view  of  your  ver 
dict,  which  I  gratefully  accept  as  my  vindication. " 

The  new  administration  was  soon  confronted  with 
financial  problems  of  unusual  seriousness.  The  war 
had  exhausted  capital,  and  had  resulted  in  an  in 
flated  style  of  living.  In  October,  1871,  the  most 
disastrous  fire  in  the  history  of  the  nation,  thus  far, 
destroyed  a  large  section  of  the  city  of  Chicago,  and 
in  the  next  year,  over  sixty-five  acres  were  burnt 
out  in  Boston.  While  these  conflagrations  caused 
much  local  suffering,  and  a  heavy  strain  on  insur 
ance  companies,  yet  it  was  not  until  1873,  when  the 
great  banking  house  of  Jay  Cooke  closed  its  doors, 
that  the  financial  situation  became  acute.  The  im 
mediate  occasion  of  this  failure  was  the  too  rapid 
absorption  of  capital  into  railroad-building,  and  the 
result  was  the  panic  of  1873,  during  which  the  mer 
cantile  failures  were  over  three-quarters  of  a  billion. 


312  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

When  Congress  assembled,  there  were  many 
measures  suggested  for  relief,  but  the  most  popular 
was  the  reissuance  of  greenbacks,  so  as  to  inflate 
the  currency,  and  thus  make  it  easier  for  the  debtor 
to  settle  with  his  creditors.  Eventually  a  measure 
was  passed,  which  authorized  an  increase  in  the 
greenbacks  to  $400,000,000.  As  the  leaders  of  the 
party  supported  the  bill,  and  as  the  increase  was 
but  slight,  it  was  confidently  assumed  that  Grant 
would  sign  it.  But  after  much  consideration,  dur 
ing  which  the  President  wrote  a  message  approving 
the  bill  and  then,  finding  the  argument  incon 
clusive,  destroyed  it,  he  decided  to  veto  the  bill  as 
"a  departure  from  the  true  principles  of  finance. " 
"The  veto  was  a  brave  and  noble  act,"  says  the 
historian  of  the  period,  James  Ford  Ehodes,  and 
Grant's  determination,  based  on  his  own  independ 
ent  thought,  was  the  most  notable  act  of  the  second 
administration. 

The  last  years  of  his  service  as  President  mark 
the  lowest  ebb  ever  reached  in  the  political  morale 
of  the  country.  The  "  salary  grab,"  whereby  Con 
gress  gave  to  its  members  an  increase  in  salary 
which  was  dated  back  to  the  beginning  of  the  ses 
sion,  so  as  to  include  those  who  voted  on  the  meas 
ure  ;  the  Credit  Mobilier  scandal,  wherein  some  of 
the  leading  congressmen  were  found  to  have  ac 
cepted  stock  in  an  enterprise  which  was  receiving 
land-grants  from  the  government ;  the  Whisky 
King,  which  centered  at  St.  Louis,  and  involved  a 
number  of  prominent  officials,  including  a  secretary 


EIGHT  YEARS  AS  PEESIDENT        313 

to  the  President,  in  an  attempt  to  evade  the  in 
ternal  revenue  tax  ;  the  Sanborn  contracts,  whereby 
a  henchman  of  Benjamin  F.  Butler  undertook  to 
collect  outstanding  taxes  due  the  government,  for 
which  he  was  to  receive  one-half;  the  Belkuap 
scandal,  whereby  the  Secretary  of  War  was  shown 
to  have  received  indirectly  payments  from  a  post- 
trader,  in  exchange  for  the  appointment, — these 
malodorous  affairs  aroused  a  universal  protest,  and 
a  desire  for  better  things.  When  "  graft  "  has  been 
exposed,  the  era  of  improvement  is  near,  and  if  the 
discredit  of  these  abuses  of  public  office  attaches  to 
Grant,  let  it  be  also  remembered  that  the  exposure 
came  also  in  his  time.1 
The  election  of  1876  was  fought  on  the  reform 

1  Perhaps  the  most  vivid  statement  of  the  demoralization  of 
the  times  is  to  be  found  in  the  Democratic  platform  for  1876,  as 
follows  : 

"When  the  annals  of  this  republic  show  the  disgrace  and 
censure  of  a  Vice-President ;  a  late  Speaker  of  the  House  of 
Representatives  marketing  his  rulings  as  a  presiding  officer  ; 
three  senators  profiting  secretly  by  their  votes  as  lawmakers  ; 
five  chairmen  of  the  leading  committees  of  the  late  House  of 
Representatives  exposed  in  jobbery  ;  a  late  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury  forcing  balances  in  the  public  accounts  ;  a  late  At 
torney-General  misappropriating  public  funds  ;  a  Secretary  of 
the  Navy  enriched  and  enriching  friends  by  percentages  levied 
off  the  profits  of  contractors  with  his  department ;  an  ambassa 
dor  to  England  censurable  in  a  dishonorable  speculation  ;  the 
President's  private  secretary  barely  escaping  conviction  on  trial 
for  guilty  complicity  in  frauds  upon  the  revenue ;  a  Secretary  of 
War  impeached  for  high  crimes  and  misdemeanors — the  demon 
stration  is  complete  that  the  first  step  in  reform  must  be  the 
people's  choice  of  honest  men  from  another  party,  lest  the  dis 
ease  of  the  political  organization  infect  the  body  politic,  and 
lest  by  making  no  change  of  men  or  parties  we  get  no  change 
of  measures  and  no  real  reform." 


314  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

issue.  The  Eepublicaiis,  while  at  first  there  was 
some  desire  again  to  renominate  Grant,  deferred  to 
the  national  sentiment  against  a  third  term,  and 
nominated  Eutherford  B.  Hayes,  a  general  of  the 
war  who  had  been  elected  Governor  of  Ohio  on  a 
sound  money  platform.  The  Democrats  nominated 
Samuel  J.  Tilden,  an  eminent  lawyer,  who,  as 
Governor  of  New  York,  had  led  in  the  overthrow  of 
the  Tweed  Eing.  The  election  was  exceedingly 
close,  and  when  the  first  returns  were  in,  it  was 
evident  that  Tilden  had  a  majority  of  the  popular 
vote  and  would  receive  at  least  184  electoral  votes. 
Prom  South  Carolina,  Florida,  Louisiana  and  Ore 
gon  there  were  two  sets  of  returns  and  if  those  for 
Hayes  should  be  counted,  it  would  give  him  185 
electoral  votes  and  the  election  ! 

The  bitterness  of  this  contest  tested  the  political 
institutions  of  the  country  at  an  entirely  new  point. 
No  such  question  had  ever  been  presented  to  the 
11  Fathers,"  and  to  add  to  the  uncertainty,  Congress 
was  divided,  the  House  being  Democratic  as  a  re 
sult  of  the  election  of  1874.  Many  opposing  the 
ories  of  procedure  were  suggested.  Some  argued 
that  the  President  of  the  Senate,  who  was  the  chair 
man  of  the  joint  meeting  of  Congress  when  the 
votes  were  counted,  could  accept  which  ever  certifi 
cates  he  pleased.  Others  argued  that  the  House 
should  decide  which  certificates  should  be  accepted 
for  the  Presidency,  and  the  Senate  should  decide  simi 
larly  for  the  Vice-Presidency.  Eventually  the  sug 
gestion  of  an  Electoral  Commission  to  consist  of  five 


EIGHT  YEAES  AS  PEESIDENT        315 

Senators,  five  Eepresentatives  and  five  Justices  of 
the  Supreme  Court,  to  sit  as  a  judicial  tribunal  and 
to  pass  on  disputed  certificates,  was  agreed  upon. 
When  finally  created,  the  Commission  consisted  of 
three  Eepublicans  and  two  Democrats  from  the 
Senate,  two  Eepublicans  and  three  Democrats  from 
the  House,  the  four  Senior  Justices  of  the  Supreme 
Court,  who  were  equally  divided  in  party  loyalty, 
and  Justice  Bradley,  who  was  the  junior  on  the 
bench.  When  the  Commission  held  its  sessions, 
Bradley  voted  with  the  Eepublicaus,  and  by  his 
casting  vote,  the  electoral  votes  for  Hayes  were 
accepted,  and  his  election  announced. 

While  this  bitter  controversy  was  waging,  many 
idle  threats  were  made  on  both  sides.  Some  demo 
cratic  partisans  preached  civil  war  rather  than  sub 
mission,  and  there  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  Grant's 
influence  counted  for  peace  and  restraint.  In  is 
suing  his  instructions  to  the  army  for  the  mainte 
nance  of  order  while  the  count  was  being  made,  he 
declared:  "No  man  worthy  of  the  office  of  Presi 
dent  should  be  willing  to  hold  it  if  counted  in  or 
placed  there  by  fraud.  Either  party  can  afford  to 
be  disappointed  in  the  result.  The  country  cannot 
afiford  to  have  the  result  tainted  by  the  suspicion  of 
illegal  or  false  returns."  This  was  a  righteous 
attitude,  and  met  with  strong  endorsement  all  over 
the  Union,  and  when  the  radicals  threatened  to 
appeal  to  force,  there  was  a  general  satisfaction 
with  the  assurance  that  the  presence  of  a  strong  man 
in  the  White  House,  who  knew  the  power  of  his 


316  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

office  and  had  the  strength  to  use  it,  was  the  best 
possible  guarantee  that  the  decision  of  the  Electoral 
Commission  would  be  accepted. 

His  patriotic  attitude  during  this  crisis  led  to  a 
revival  of  personal  enthusiasm  for  Grant,  and  when 
he  retired  from  the  Presidency,  while  there  was  a 
record  of  some  failures,  yet  there  was  no  doubt  of 
his  sure  place  in  the  affections  of  his  countrymen. 


CHAPTEE  XIV 

THE  CLOSING  YEARS 

"WHAT  should  be  done  with  our  ex-Presidents " 
is  a  current  American  problem,  more  academic 
than  real,  for  the  ex- Presidents  settle  the  question, 
each  according  to  his  own  tastes.  For  some  months 
before  his  retirement  from  the  White  House,  Grant 
had  formed  his  plan  for  the  famous  world-trip,  and 
fortunately  the  means  had  become  available.  After 
sixteen  years  of  public  service,  filled  with  unusual 
demands  and  responsibilities,  part  of  the  time  as 
head  of  the  army,  and  for  half  of  the  period  as 
head  of  the  nation,  Grant  had  won  a  vacation,  and 
it  was  but  natural  that  his  boyish  ambition  for 
travel  should  return.  But  travel  was  expensive, 
and  when  the  official  salary  ceased,  Grant  had  left 
an  income  of  but  six  thousand  dollars  per  year. 
This  was  less  than  his  independent  income  in  1868, 
for  the  expenses  of  maintaining  his  family,  and  es 
pecially  the  cost  of  entertaining  in  the  White  House, 
had  cut  into  his  principal  to  the  extent  of  over 
twenty-five  thousand  dollars.  Fortunately,  the  gen 
erosity  of  a  friend  made  the  vacation  possible.  A 
millionaire  of  Galena,  learning  of  Grant's  plans, 
sent  him  a  check  for  fifty  thousand  dollars  to  be 
used  in  the  trip  around  the  world,  and  the  total  cost 


318  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

was  defrayed  from  this  generous  gift  and  his  regular 
income  for  the  two  years. 

On  May  17,  1877,  General  and  Mrs.  Grant,  and 
their  youngest  son,  Jesse,  sailed  from  Philadelphia 
for  Liverpool  on  the  Indiana.  During  part  of  their 
travels  they  were  accompanied  by  Mr.  Borie,  who 
had  served  in  Grant's  Cabinet,  and  later  by  John 
Eussell  Young,  who  became  the  historian  of  the  pil 
grimage. 

In  the  courts  of  Europe  it  was  not  easy  at  first  to 
determine  the  nature  of  the  welcome  to  be  given  to 
the  distinguished  visitor.  He  was  not  a  member  of 
any  royal  family,  except  in  the  sense  in  which  an 
equal  dignity  could  be  claimed  for  all  of  his  coun 
trymen.  He  was  not  a  ruler,  for  absolutely  all  au 
thority  had  been  laid  aside.  There  was  no  prece 
dent  available  as  a  guide.  The  American  govern 
ment  notified  its  ministers  to  prepare  a  proper 
welcome  for  Grant  and  his  party,  and  eventually 
his  reception  became  a  popular  and  personal  tribute 
to  the  great  general  whose  leadership  had  preserved 
the  nation  and  had  won  for  him  acceptation  as  its 
representative  man. 

Upon  landing  at  Liverpool,  he  was  presented  with 
the  freedom  of  the  city,  and  here,  as  at  Manchester, 
he  was  made  the  guest  of  the  city.  In  London  he 
was  the  guest  of  honor  at  the  Guildhall  banquet ;  he 
dined  with  the  Prince  of  Wales  at  Marl  borough 
House,  and  was  entertained  by  the  Queen  in  a  pri 
vate  party  at  Windsor  Castle.  In  every  part  of 
Great  Britain,  and  from  every  class,  he  received 


THE  CLOSING  YEAES  319 

the  same  welcome  ;  at  New  Castle  80,000  miners  gave 
him  a  welcome,  and  in  each  of  several  industrial 
cities  of  the  North  the  experience  was  repeated. 
In  this  gracious  and  sympathetic  atmosphere  Grant 
developed  a  facility  for  public  speech,  which  was 
new  to  him,  and  a  genuine  surprise  to  his  friends. 
At  the  banquets  and  receptions  he  was  always  called 
upon  for  a  few  remarks,  and,  overcoming  his  nat 
ural  aversion,  he  soon  discovered  that  he  could 
make  a  very  forceful  and  concise  speech.  Gener 
ally  selecting  as  his  topic  the  advantages  of  peace, 
or  international  good- will,  or  the  importance  of 
some  line  of  trade  or  industry,  he  made  an  excellent 
impression  for  sincerity  and  good  sense. 

Without  following  the  details  of  the  trip,  he  vis 
ited  Brussels,  the  Ehine  Valley  and  Switzerland, 
Paris  and  the  Mediterranean,  Egypt,  the  Holy 
Land,  Constantinople,  Athens,  Italy,  Holland  and 
Berlin,  where  he  was  specially  entertained  by  Bis 
marck  ;  Denmark,  Norway,  Sweden,  Eussia,  Aus 
tria,  Southern  France,  Spain,  Portugal  and  Ireland. 
After  having  seen  every  state  in  Europe,  he  took 
boat  for  India,  and  later  made  interesting  visits  to 
India,  Burmah,  Siam,  China  and  Japan.  In  each  of 
these  countries  the  welcome  given  him  was  real 
and  sincere,  and  was  voiced  by  its  leading  men. 
The  Oriental  reserve  of  Li  Hung  Chang  broke  down 
in  his  joy  at  meeting  a  distinguished  brother-in 
arms,  who,  like  himself,  had  won  fame  in  the  sup 
pression  of  a  rebellion.  Even  the  traditional  eti 
quette  of  the  court  of  Japan  was  modified  to  give  a 


320  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

welcome  to  the  stranger,  when  the  Mikado,  for  the 
first  time  in  history,  shook  hands  with  his  guest. 
It  was  with  many  personal  experiences  of  cordiality 
and  courtesy,  and  most  pleasant  memories  of  what 
had  been  said  and  done  to  make  him  welcome,  that 
Grant  finally  crossed  the  Pacific  in  1879,  after  an 
absence  of  twenty-eight  months. 

Foreign  travel  is  always  a  liberal  education  to 
any  thinking  man,  and  Grant  was  still  at  the  stage 
in  his  career  when  he  could  appreciate  new  ideas. 
His  service  in  military  and  civil  administration  had 
given  him  an  interest  in  political  and  industrial  life, 
and  his  travels  now  afforded  him  an  opportunity 
to  see  how  the  older  civilizations  were  meeting 
problems  which  were  also  urgent  at  home.  It  was 
curious,  but  characteristic,  that  military  reviews 
bored  him,  although  military  discussions,  even  of 
seemingly  trivial  matters  of  organization,  did  not. 
Anything  connected  with  the  life  of  the  people 
appealed  to  him  most  strongly.  He  returned  to 
America,  therefore,  with  a  personal  acquaintance 
with  the  leaders  in  the  life  of  the  world,  and  an  in 
sight  into  their  work,  which  probably  no  other 
American  of  his  time,  and  but  few  since,  could  equal. 

In  September,  1879,  Grant  landed  at  San  Fran 
cisco,  where,  twenty-five  years  before,  he  had  been 
stranded  upon  his  retirement  from  the  army.  The 
enthusiasm  of  his  welcome  was  convincing  proof  of 
the  devotion  of  his  countrymen.  His  return  to  the 
eastern  coast  was  like  a  triumphal  march,  and  as 
each  state  voiced  its  welcome  to  the  nation's  hero, 


THE  CLOSING  YEAES  321 

thoughts  of  additional  public  service  came  into 
mind.  Certainly,  at  fifty-seven,  no  one  could  feel 
that  his  career  was  closed.  An  old  age  of  inactivity 
was  exceedingly  repugnant  to  him.  His  income 
was  but  slight,  and  necessity  required  that  some 
thing  should  be  done  to  supplement  it.  In  the  en 
vironing  circumstances  of  life,  therefore,  are  con 
tained  the  germs  of  the  idea  of  a  third  candidacy 
for  the  Presidency. 

At  this  time,  the  dominant  leaders  of  the  Bepub- 
lican  party  were  Elaine,  and  the  Senatorial  tri 
umvirate — Conkling  of  New  York,  Cameron  of 
Pennsylvania  and  Logan  of  Illinois.  Hayes's  ad 
ministration,  while  quietly  capable,  had  achieved  no 
especially  dramatic  success  and  the  politicians  were 
disappointed  in  the  independence  of  the  man.  By 
his  own  act  of  self-abnegation,  Hayes  had  limited 
his  service  to  a  single  term,  and  as  the  next  election 
became  imminent,  there  was  much  speculation  as  to 
a  successor.  For  several  years  Elaine  had  been  a 
leading  candidate,  and  at  first  it  looked  like  an  easy 
victory.  But  presently  Conkling  and  his  associates 
determined  to  bring  out  Grant  again,  convinced  that 
with  the  added  prestige  of  his  transatlantic  honors, 
with  such  a  candidate,  the  party,  in  Conkling' s  pic 
turesque  phrase,  could  "  grandly  win."  There  can 
be  no  question  but  that  this  determination  had  been 
reached  by  many  prominent  leaders  long  before 
there  had  been  any  authoritative  communication 
with  Grant.  While  many  of  his  advocates  belonged 
to  the  stalwart  wing  of  the  party,  and  had  received 


322  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

the  benefits  of  patronage  during  his  administrations, 
yet  it  is  clear  that  another  reason  had  operated  to 
bring  others  to  the  same  conclusion.  The  state 
elections  since  1876  indicated  that  public  senti 
ment  in  the  South  had  consolidated  in  favor  of  the 
Democratic  party.  In  presidential  elections,  the 
"  Solid  South,"  as  it  was  called,  began  with  1880. 
Many  far-sighted  Eepublicans  dreaded  the  perma 
nent  alienation  of  a  large  section  of  the  country 
from  their  party,  and  they  now  turned  to  Grant  as 
the  one  candidate  who  might  succeed  in  the  South. 

For  several  months  Grant  maintained  an  absolute 
silence  on  the  subject  of  his  candidacy.  His  wife 
and  closest  friends  were  known  to  be  enthusiastic  in 
their  desire  for  the  third  term,  and  there  can  be 
little  question  but  that  Grant  himself  wished  for  an 
other  opportunity  to  use  his  wider  knowledge  for 
the  advancement  of  the  nation.  Writing  to  Wash- 
burne,  February  2,  1880,  he  said  :  "  All  that  I  want 
is  that  the  government  rule  should  remain  in  the 
hands  of  those  who  saved  the  Union  until  all  the 
questions  growing  out  of  the  war  are  forever  settled. 
I  would  much  rather  any  one  of  ten  I  could  mention 
should  be  President  rather  than  that  I  should  have 
it."  But  the  next  month  he  wrote, — "I  owe  so 
much  to  the  Union  men  of  the  country  that  if  they 
think  my  chances  are  better  for  election  than  for 
other  probable  candidates  in  case  I  should  decline, 
I  cannot  decline  if  the  nomination  is  tendered  with 
out  seeking  on  my  part. " 

In  1876,  when  there  had  been  some  suggestion  of 


THE  CLOSING  YEAES  323 

a  third  term,  the  House  of  [Representatives  had 
adopted  a  resolution  declaring  against  the  reelec 
tion  of  a  President  at  the  conclusion  of  his  second 
term.  While  much  of  the  opposition  to  the  third 
term  idea  lost  its  force  with  an  intervening  term  for 
some  other  man,  yet  the  suggestion  caused  a  storm 
of  bitter  criticism  wholly  apart  from  the  personality 
of  the  candidate.  Pamphlets  and  partisan  screeds 
were  published  on  both  sides  of  the  question ;  Grant 
was  accused  of  endeavoring  to  establish  imperial  in 
stitutions,  and  odd  parallels  were  drawn  between 
his  career  and  that  of  Napoleon,  whom  he  despised  ! 
Eventually,  when  the  convention  met  at  Chicago, 
Grant  sent  a  letter  to  Cameron,  who  was  then  chair 
man  of  the  national  committee,  directing  the  with 
drawal  of  his  name.  But  Cameron  showed  it  to 
Conkling,  and  that  trusted  leader  persuaded  Grant 
to  withdraw  the  letter,  and  thus  to  enter  the 
fight. 

The  Chicago  convention  of  1880  was  the  most  ex 
citing  in  the  history  of  the  party,  until  the  split  in 
1912.  Grant  had  a  plurality  of  delegates,  but  no 
majority.  Superbly  courageous,  Conkling  fought 
his  battle,  with  a  following  which  during  thirty-five 
ballots  never  was  less  than  304  votes,  and  on  the 
thirty-sixth  ballot,  when  Garfield  received  399  votes 
and  nomination,  there  were  still  306  who  followed 
Conkling  in  his  hopeless  fight.  In  the  campaign 
which  followed,  at  first  Democratic  success  seemed 
assured,  for  the  line  of  cleavage  in  the  opposition 
had  been  too  pronounced.  Toward  the  close  of  the 


324  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

campaign,  Grant  was  persuaded  to  speak  for  Gar- 
field  at  one  meeting,  and  this  drew  Conkling  into 
the  field.  Eventually,  Garfield  won  New  York  state 
and  the  election,  although  his  opponent,  Hancock, 
carried  the  Solid  South  ! l 

With  the  final  overthrow  of  his  political  possibil 
ities,  Grant  determined  upon  a  residence  in  New 
York  city.  His  second  son,  Ulysses,  lived  there, 
and  during  the  world-trip  he  had  become  the  man 
of  business  of  the  family,  supervising  investments, 
and  watching  over  the  returns.  Moreover,  New 
York  had  always  been  hospitable  to  the  Grants. 
Many  of  the  General's  warmest  friends  resided  there, 
and  its  leaders  had  been  loyal  to  his  ambitions.  But 
with  a  residence  in  the  metropolis,  some  consider 
able  addition  to  his  income  was  necessary,  if  a 
dignified  standard  of  living  was  to  be  maintained. 
Several  propositions  were  suggested,  but  the  one 
eventually  accepted,  which  brought  the  crowning 
sorrow  into  old  age,  came  from  Ferdinand  Ward. 

Ward  was  a  broker  of  some  standing.  Through  his 
brother,  he  had  become  acquainted  with  Grant's  son, 
Ulysses,  who  eventually  entered  into  speculations 
with  him.  These  enterprises  proving  successful, 
Ward  now  suggested  the  organization  of  a  new 
banking  firm,  in  which  General  Grant  and  J.  D. 
Fish,  then  president  of  the  Marine  National  Bank, 

1  The  opposing  attitude  was  expressed  forcefully  in  a  letter  of 
Goldwin  Smith:  "The  nomination  of  Garfield  against  Grant 
•was  a  decisive  victory  of  the  better  and  purer  part  of  the  Repub 
lican  party  over  that  which  had  been  debauched  by  twenty 
years  of  office."  See  "  Correspondence  of  Goldwin  Smith,"  p.  92. 


THE  CLOSING  YEAES  325 

should  be  special  partners.  For  years  the  firm  of 
Grant  and  Ward  enjoyed  excellent  repute  with  the 
general  public.  One  name  contributed  prestige, 
while  the  other  was  that  of  a  so-called  "  Napoleon 
of  finance. "  Practically  all  of  Grant's  capital, 
amounting  to  $100,000,  was  placed  in  the  firm  as 
his  contribution  ;  and  in  return,  he  drew  out  gener 
ally  three  thousand  dollars  per  month  as  his  share  of 
the  profits.  Obviously  there  was  something  dis 
proportionate  between  the  investment  and  the  re 
turn,  yet  Grant,  who  in  financial  matters  was  as 
simple-minded  as  a  child,  accepted  these  excessive 
profits  without  doubt  or  hesitation.  Nor  was  he 
the  only  one  to  be  deceived.  It  was  a  period  of  in 
flation,  following  the  panic  of  1873-1877,  when  every 
one  was  making  money,  and  many  of  the  shrewdest 
were  misled  by  Ward's  optimistic  reports. 

Meanwhile,  the  end  was  near  at  hand.  Ward  had 
always  represented  to  Grant  that  the  firm  did  not  deal 
in  government  contracts,  but  that  its  money  was 
made  by  advancing  to  contractors  what  they  needed 
to  start  their  work.  The  Marine  National  Bank 
was  their  fiscal  agent,  and  so  successful  had  been  the 
firm  that  after  three  years  it  had  an  ostensible 
balance  of  over  $600,000  at  the  bank,  and  a  capital 
of  over  $15,000,000.  But  while  Grant  and  his  son 
were  absolutely  unsuspicious  of  any  wrong-doing, 
Ward  had  been  engaged  in  a  series  of  speculations 
which  could  no  longer  be  maintained.  From  the 
beginning  of  his  career  as  a  financier  he  had 
secured  deposits  for  syndicates,  speculated  with  the 


326  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

funds,  declared  and  paid  large  imaginary  profits 
out  of  capital,  so  as  to  secure  greater  deposits  for 
the  next  syndicate,  and  so  on,  until  at  last  the 
bubble  broke.  Cupidity  and  the  hope  of  large 
returns  had  led  many  people  to  patronize  him, 
and  the  prestige  of  Grant's  name  had  convinced 
the  skeptics  that  the  business  was  honestly  con 
ducted. 

One  Sunday  in  May,  1884,  Ward  suddenly 
appeared  at  Grant's  home  and  told  the  General  that 
the  Marine  National  Bank  was  tottering,  because  of 
an  unexpected  call  for  a  large  city  deposit,  and  that 
if  the  bank  closed  its  doors,  it  might  temporarily 
embarrass  their  firm.  After  much  urging,  Grant 
agreed  to  attempt  to  borrow  $150,000,  and  calling 
on  William  H.  Vauderbilt,  he  at  once  received  the 
money,  but  as  a  personal  loan.  A  few  days  later, 
the  world  was  startled  with  the  news  of  the  failure 
of  the  Marine  National  Bank,  and  the  insolvency  of 
Grant  and  Ward,  carrying  with  it  the  private 
fortunes  of  almost  every  member  of  the  Grant 
family.  With  the  failure  came  a  series  of  legal 
inquiries,  which  disclosed  the  methods  which  Ward 
had  used  to  perpetrate  and  maintain  a  gigantic 
series  of  frauds.  Then  came  criticism,  stern  and 
bitter,  directed  against  all  who  had  taken  part  in 
the  swindle,  and  especially  against  General  Grant, 
whose  reputation  for  integrity  had  been  a  chief 
reason  why  many  had  deposited  with  the  firm.  An 
effort  was  made  to  hold  Grant  personally  liable  to 
all  creditors,  as  a  general  partner  of  the  firm.  This 


THE  CLOSING  YEARS  327 

failed,  as  legally  it  was  bound  to  fail,  but  all  of  the 
Grant  fortune  was  swept  away  nevertheless. 

Walter  Johnston,  who  was  appointed  receiver  of 
the  Marine  Bank,  has  written  his  memories  of  these 
days,  as  follows  : 

"  Grant  and  Ward  began  business  with  an  office 
in  the  building  owned  by  the  First  National  Bank, 
corner  of  Wall  and  Broadway.  Ward  began  a 
colossal  scheme  of  fraud.  He  induced  wealthy 
people  to  subscribe  to  so-called  government  con 
tracts  on  the  dead  quiet,  owing,  he  said,  to  Grant's 
connection  with  the  firm.  Army  and  navy  supplies 
of  hay,  clothes,  coal,  etc.,  the  contracts  for  which 
had  been  allotted  to  him  by  the  government,  he 
whispered,  and  on  which  there  were  huge  profits. 
It  is  surprising  how  it  succeeded. 

"  In  forming  the  firm  he  had  induced  the  president 
of  the  Marine  National  Bank  of  New  York  City, 
James  D.  Fish,  to  join  in  the  firm  in  order  to 
secure  the  use  of  the  bank  in  floating  these  schemes. 
The  modus  operaudi  was  to  get,  say,  $500,000  sub 
scribed  and  paid  in  to  the  Marine  Bank,  and  then 
in  thirty,  or  sixty,  or  ninety  days,  pay  the  sub 
scribers  back  their  principal  and  interest,  and  share 
of  the  profit  amounting  to  say  twenty  per  cent,  on 
their  subscription,  but  immediately  to  induce  them 
to  reinvest  the  whole  amount,  and  double  up,  on 
another  contract  for  coal,  or  something  else,  which 
everybody  with  the  agreeable  experience  of  getting 
back  profits  so  easily  would  jump  at.  And  so  it 
went  on,  with  a  growing  overdraft  in  the  Marine 
Bank  up  to  $750,000,  with  the  purpose  on  his  part 
of  absconding  some  day  with  a  great  sum,  until  one 
day  the  strain  in  the  bank  became  impossible  to 
stand  any  longer,  and  down  it  broke,  and  knocked 
his  whole  plan  into  a  cocked  hat. 


328  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

"  One  of  the  parties,  who  hod  drawn  heavily  on 
him  and  then  reinvested  heavily,  got  suspicious, 
and  after  a  constant  pull  on  him  to  demonstrate  his 
ability  to  pay,  it  broke  him  and  left  him  flat  on  his 
back,  a  disgraced  man. 

"In  his  extremity  before  failure,  he  visited 
General  Grant  at  his  house,  and  told  him  that 
$150,000  would  save  the  house.  Poor  Grant  called 
on  Mr.  Vanderbilt  and  took  with  him  the  only 
collateral  he  had,  to  wit :  the  trophies  presented  to 
him  in  Europe  on  his  travels,  and  asked  Vanderbilt 
to  loan  him  the  money,  which  he  did,  and  of  course 
lost  every  cent  of  it,  which  broke  Grant's  heart. 
Vanderbilt  refused  the  collateral. 

"I  had  Ward  taken  out  of  jail,  where  he  had 
been  placed  in  a  suit,  to  come  to  my  office  and  make 
up  schedules  of  the  whole  business,  so  that  my 
counsel  could  decide  in  what  quarter  to  sue.  He 
was  entirely  willing,  being  hopelessly  broken  in 
spirit.  While  he  was  at  work  at  that  job,  the  trial 
of  James  D.  Fish,  the  ex-president  of  the  bank,  was 
on  in  the  United  States  Court  here.  Fish  had  ex 
hibited  to  the  court  a  copy  of  a  letter  he  had  sent 
to  General  Grant  asking  him  to  reassure  him  as  to 
these  contracts,  inasmuch  as  the  loans  at  the  bauk 
were  growing  so  heavy  that  he  was  alarmed.  When 
Ward  came  down  to  his  office  next  morning,  he  was 
handed  this  letter.  He  opened  it  and  read  it,  and 
seeing  what  a  deadly  effect  it  would  have  if  there 
was  no  answer,  he  dictated  a  reply  in  type,  and 
took  it  up  the  stairs  to  General  Grant's  office,  where 
he  was  acting  president  of  a  Mexican  Railway 
Company,  and  inserted  it  in  a  bunch  of  the  General's 
correspondence,  which  according  to  his  custom  as 
President  and  General  of  the  Army  was  awaiting 
his  signature  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon, 
when  he  always  took  the  boat  to  his  cottage  at  Long 


THE  CLOSING  YEAES  329 

Branch.  His  secretary  would  hand  him  those  ac 
cumulated  letters  one  by  one  for  signature,  blotting 
the  signature  for  him,  and  being  of  a  nature  that 
was  merely  perfunctory  official  business,  the  General 
would  not  read  them  unless  his  attention  was  called 
to  any  one  of  them  by  the  secretary.  Ward  came 
up  when  the  General  had  gone,  and  took  his  letter 
out,  which  announced  to  Fish  that  the  contracts 
were  all  right,  and  himself  mailed  it  to  Mr.  Fish. 

u  All  this  he  confessed  to  me  the  same  day  that 
the  Fish  letter  was  read  in  court.  It  nearly  cleared 
Fish.  The  jury  were  out  six  hours,  but  they  finally 
indicted  him  on  false  statements  in  the  reports  to 
the  Comptroller  of  the  Currency,  in  which  they  car 
ried  these  enormous  losses  in  the  name  of  the  colored 
porter  and  other  employees.  In  this  case  the  court 
adjourned  for  an  hour  to  have  General  Grant's  de 
position  taken,  as  he  was  lying  in  bed  with  the  can 
cer  that  later  he  died  of.  Elihu  Root,  who  was  the 
district  attorney,  gave  to  the  General  the  letter  from 
Fish.  He  read  it  and  said  in  his  low  voice, '  I  don't 
understand  this,  Mr.  Boot,  I  never  received  this 
letter.'  Then  he  presented  him  with  the  answer 
signed  by  him.  He  read  it  over  and  said,  l  Mr.  Boot, 
that  is  my  signature,  but  I  never  wrote  or  dictated 
that  letter.7  The  lawyers  for  Mr.  Fish  joined  with 
Mr.  Eoot  in  assuring  General  Grant  that  the  whole 
thing  was  a  fraud  on  him  and  that  he  should  not 
allow  it  to  worry  him  any,  but  that  it  was  necessary 
to  take  his  testimony  both  for  his  own  sake  and  Mr. 
Fish's.  Ward  was  sent  to  the  penitentiary  for  ten 
years,  and  Fish  for  the  same,  but  after  two  years  I 
addressed  a  letter  to  the  President  of  the  United 
States  telling  him  the  whole  story  and  he  was  par 
doned." 

It  was  intensely  humiliating  to  the  old  soldier  to 


330  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

learn  that  he  had  been  the  decoy  of  a  sharper.  It 
was  very  bitter  to  reflect  that  not  only  was  his  own 
fortune  swept  away,  but  also  the  savings  of  those 
who  had  trusted  him.  "  Financially,  the  Grant 
family  is  ruined  for  the  present,  and  by  the  most 
stupendous  frauds  ever  perpetrated,"  he  wrote  to 
his  sister,  at  the  same  time  sending  a  message  to 
"  Aunt  Jennie,"  whose  fortune  had  been  lost  in  the 
crash,  that  she  should  always  have  a  home  with 
him.  But  for  a  time  absolute  privation  threatened. 
When  the  failure  came,  Grant  and  his  wife  had  but 
a  few  hundreds  in  cash,  and  as  a  -separate  income 
for  Mrs.  Grant,  purchased  by  some  friends,  stopped 
at  this  time  because  of  a  default  in  bond  interest, 
the  harassed  family  was  in  great  distress.  For 
tunately,  there  were  still  friends.  One  gentleman 
sent  him  a  check  for  one  thousand  dollars,  as  an 
indefinite  loan,  on  account  of  services  rendered 
"  prior  to  1865."  The  Mexican  Ambassador  in 
sisted  upon  the  acceptance  of  a  like  amount.  With 
this  generous  aid,  the  crisis  was  tided  over,  until 
some  houses  in  Washington,  belonging  to  Mrs. 
Grant,  could  be  sold. 

One  thing  hung  heavily  on  the  General's  con 
science.  William  H.  Vauderbilt  had  made  a  per 
sonal  loan  to  him,  and  Grant  insisted  that  this  debt 
should  be  discharged.  All  of  his  property  at  St. 
Louis  and  Chicago  was  deeded  to  Mr,  Vauderbilt, 
and  eventually  all  of  his  personal  property,  includ 
ing  the  unique  collection  of  gifts,  souvenirs,  swords, 
etc.,  collected  during  the  trip  around  the  world. 


THE  CLOSING  YEAES  331 

Mr.  Vanderbilt  insisted  upon  returning  this  collec 
tion  to  Mrs.  Grant,  but  the  General  refused,  and 
eventually,  with  the  consent  of  both,  it  became  the 
property  of  the  nation. 

While  Grant  was  thus  facing  ruin,  and  the  an 
guish  which  came  from  bitter  criticism,  he  was  also 
engaged  in  the  opening  skirmish  of  the  last  battle 
of  his  life.  On  Christmas,  1883,  he  had  fallen  on  the 
ice,  and  there  had  been  a  rupture  of  a  muscle  in  the 
thigh.  He  was  slow  in  recovering,  and  for  months 
he  could  walk  only  with  the  aid  of  crutches.  When 
the  failure  came,  he  was  still  far  from  well,  although 
able  to  travel  around  the  city.  When  the  first 
storm  of  criticism  had  passed,  Grant  began  to  con 
sider  the  necessity  of  earning  a  livelihood,  so  as 
to  at  least  accumulate  a  competence  for  his  wife. 
It  is  again  one  of  the  unique  contrasts  of  life  that 
this  man,  who  had  held  most  exalted  positions,  and 
had  so  recently  been  received  on  terms  of  equality 
by  the  sovereigns  of  Europe  and  Asia,  was  now  to 
become  a  bread-winner.  Fortunately,  there  was 
available  a  line  of  work  for  which  he  had  a  special, 
although  undiscovered,  talent,  and  in  which  his 
peculiar  knowledge  was  needed  by  the  world. 

Many  publishers  had  endeavored  to  persuade 
Grant  to  write  out  his  memories  of  the  war,  but  the 
pressure  of  other  things  and  a  failure  to  recognize 
his  ability  for  the  work  had  led  him  to  refuse.  In 
the  days  of  his  prosperity,  he  had  written  but  one 
magazine  article,  in  advocacy  of  a  re-hearing  in 
the  case  of  General  FitzJohn  Porter.  But  when 


332  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

money  was  needed,  the  idea  of  writing  assumed  a 
more  favorable  aspect.  Two  articles,  on  Shilok 
and  Vicksburg,  were  written  for  the  Century  Maga 
zine,  and  their  reception,  as  evidenced  by  a  sub 
stantial  check  from  the  publisher,  far  in  excess  of 
the  amount  of  their  agreement,  was  strong  evidence 
that  the  public  would  welcome  a  complete  account  of 
Grant's  experiences.  Finally,  Samuel  L.  Clemens 
(Mark  Twain),  who  was  then  a  member  of  the 
publishing  firm  of  Charles  L.  Webster  &  Com 
pany,  secured  his  signature  to  a  contract,  and  the 
great  work  began. 

It  was  a  race  with  death.  In  the  autumn  of  1884, 
an  affection  of  the  throat  developed,  which  was 
soon  pronounced  to  be  cancer.  During  the  winter 
the  pain  and  suffering  were  intense,  but  realizing 
that  this  was  a  final  chance  to  provide  for  those 
whom  he  loved,  the  General  proceeded  with  the 
work  of  dictation.  In  March,  1885,  the  heart  of 
the  dying  veteran  was  gladdened  by  the  action  of 
Congress  in  restoring  him  to  his  rank  and  salary  as 
a  retired  General  of  the  Army.  This  removed  the 
immediate  dread  of  want,  but  his  desire  to  finish 
the  u  Memoirs "  was  intense.  When,  in  April,  it 
seemed  as  if  he  were  dying,  he  was  still  able  to  say  : 
" I  want  to  live  and  finish  my  book."  With  the 
same  grim  determination  as  at  Vicksburg  and 
Petersburg,  he  fought  his  last  fight  with  the  eternal 
foe  and  won  ! 

Dictating  when  he  could,  writing  with  his  tablet 
when  speech  was  impossible,  he  pushed  his  work  to 


THE  CLOSING  YEAES  333 

the  end,  and  in  the  late  spring  the  "  Memoirs  "  were 
finished.  Meanwhile,  the  sympathy  and  affection 
ate  regard  of  the  nation  were  expressed  at  the  bedside 
of  the  dying  soldier.  Visitors  came  from  far  and 
near,  especially  army  officers,  both  Union  and  Con 
federate.  Once  more  he  was  the  hero  of  the  na 
tion,  and  in  the  memory  of  what  he  had  wrought, 
the  recent  bitterness  passed  away. 

When  the  warmer  weather  of  the  spring  came,  he 
and  his  family  accepted  a  generous  offer  to  occupy 
the  Drexel  cottage  at  Mount  McGregor,  and  on 
June  16th  he  was  removed  to  this  beautiful  home. 
But  now  his  work  was  done,  and  the  suffering  was 
very  great.  Night  after  night  of  sleepless  agony 
passed.  Occasionally  some  message  would  come 
from  the  sick-room  which  would  electrify  the  coun 
try,  as  when  Grant  wrote  on  his  conversational  pad 
for  Buckner,  his  old  army  friend,  li  I  have  wit 
nessed  since  my  illness  just  what  I  have  wished  to 
see  since  the  war, — harmony  and  good- will  between 
the  sections." 

It  was  in  the  early  morning  of  July  23,  1885, 
that  the  spirit  took  its  flight. 

After  his  death  a  paper  was  found  pinned  to  his 
robe,  which  contained  these  final  words  for  his  wife 
and  children  : 

"  Look  after  our  dear  children  and  direct  them  in 
the  paths  of  rectitude.  It  would  distress  me  far 
more  to  think  that  one  of  them  could  depart  from 
an  honorable,  upright  and  virtuous  life  than  it 
would  to  know  that  they  were  prostrated  on  a  bed 


334  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

of  sickness  from  which  they  were  never  to  arise 
alive.  They  have  never  given  us  any  cause  for 
alarm  on  their  account,  and  I  earnestly  pray  they 
never  will. 

u  With  these  few  injunctions  and  the  knowledge  I 
have  of  your  love  and  affection,  and  of  the  dutiful 
affection  of  all  our  children,  I  bid  you  a  final  fare 
well  until  we  meet  in  another  and,  I  trust,  a  better 
world.  You  will  find  this  on  my  person  after  my 
demise. 

"Mt.  McGregor,  July  9,  1885." 


CHAPTER  XV 

GRANT— THE  MAN 

IT  is  difficult  to  sum  up  briefly  the  essential 
characteristics  of  a  mau  who  has  touched  life  on 
many  sides,  and  has  aroused  personal  enthusiasm 
and  partisan  bitterness.  The  generation  who  knew 
Grant  intimately  could  not  agree  concerning  him, 
and  those  whose  knowledge  is  derived  from  secondary 
sources  cannot  hope  to  escape  like  differences  in 
opinion.  But  whatever  disputes  there  may  be  con 
cerning  his  generalship,  his  administrative  capacity 
and  his  habits,  there  are  certain  large  notes  of 
personal  character  concerning  which  all  testimony 
points  to  fixed  and  definite  conclusions.  Among 
these  notes  may  be  mentioned  the  purity  of  his 
speech  and  life,  his  devotion  to  the  wife  and  the 
home-circle,  the  simplicity  of  his  bearing  and  his 
dogged  determination  along  fundamental  lines. 

Living  in  an  age  when  men  gave  free  scope  to 
their  elemental  passions,  Grant  stands  unique  in  his 
singular  self-control.  His  army  associates,  at  a 
time  when  profanity  was  glossed  over  as  the  natural 
expression  of  strong  passion,  commented  freely 
upon  the  absence  of  oaths  in  his  speech.  Charles 
A.  Dana  has  recorded  his  impression  of  this  side  of 
Grant's  character  : 


336  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

"Late  in  the  eveniog  I  left  Hard  Times  with 
Graut  to  ride  across  the  peniDSula  to  DeShroon's. 
The  night  was  pitch  dark,  and,  as  we  rode  side  by 
side,  Grant's  horse  suddenly  gave  a  nasty  stumble. 
I  expected  to  see  the  General  go  over  the  animal's 
head,  and  I  watched  intently,  not  to  see  if  he  was 
hurt,  but  if  he  would  show  any  anger.  I  had  been 
with  Grant  daily  now  for  three  weeks,  and  I  had 
never  seen  him  ruffled  nor  heard  him  swear.  His 
equanimity  was  becoming  a  curious  spectacle  to 
me.  When  I  saw  his  horse  lunge  my  first  thought 
was,  '  Now  he  will  swear.'  For  an  instant  his  moral 
status  was  on  trial,  but  Grant  was  a  tenacious  horse 
man,  and  instead  of  going  over  the  animal's  head, 
as  I  imagined  he  would,  he  kept  his  seat.  Pulling 
up  his  horse,  he  rode  on,  and,  to  my  utter  amaze 
ment,  without  a  word  or  sign  of  impatience.  And 
it  is  a  fact  that  though  I  was  with  Grant  during  the 
most  trying  campaigns  of  the  war,  I  never  heard 
him  use  an  oath." 

Nor  was  this  self-control  due  merely  to  impassive- 
ness,  but  rather  to  an  innate  fineness  of  feeling  which 
resented  anything  vulgar  or  unclean.  The  traditional 
story  will  be  recalled  of  the  dinner-table,  where  one 
of  the  guests  prefaced  a  salacious  story  with  the 
common  introduction,  "  Now,  as  there  are  no  ladies 
present," — when  he  was  interrupted  by  Grant's  in 
stant  and  effective  comment, — "No,  but  there  are 
gentlemen  !" 

This  high  appreciation  of  clean  life  and  speech 
was  based  upon  the  strength  of  the  teachings  of  his 


GEANT— THE  MAN  337 

early  boyhood,  but  it  was  undoubtedly  increased  by 
the  charm  and  simplicity  of  his  home-life.  His 
marriage  was  very  happy,  in  the  days  of  privation 
as  well  as  in  the  later  years  of  prosperity,  and  no 
man  responded  more  completely  to  the  joys  of 
domestic  life.  During  his  military  career,  his 
letters  to  his  wife  written  in  camp  and  on  the  battle 
field,  many  of  which  have  never  been  published, 
show  a  tenderness  of  feeling  surprising  in  a  man 
who  seemed  as  stolid  as  Grant.  "  Tell  me  all 
about  the  children,'7  he  writes  after  Donelson.  "I 
want  to  see  rascal  Jess  already."  "  Give  my  love 
to  all  at  home,"  he  writes  to  his  wife  on  the  eve  of 
Shiloh.  "Kiss  the  children  for  me."  Just  before 
Missionary  Eidge,  when  the  care  of  the  Army  of  the 
Cumberland  bore  hard,  he  wrote  to  an  old  friend  at 
St.  Louis  :  "I  was  very  glad  to  hear  from  my  chil 
dren.  I  have  ordered  Fred  and  Buck  to  write  to 
me  often,  but  they  don't  do  it.  If  you  see  them 
again  tell  them  they  must  write  to  me  every  week." l 
These  home  letters,  written  not  for  publication, 
show  the  real  man,  and  no  one  can  understand  his 
essential  qualities  who  fails  to  recognize  that  here 
was  a  clean-minded,  home-loving  American.  More 
over,  his  affection  for  his  wife  was  so  marked  that 
it  made  their  relationship  almost  ideal.  There  is 
real  romance  in  the  beautiful  story  of  the  wife  of 
General  Pickett,  who  made  the  Grants  a  visit  in  the 
White  House,  and  was  present  at  a  discussion  of  a 
prospective  surgical  operation  to  remove  a  slight 
1  From  the  collection  of  Louis  J.  Kolb,  of  Philadelphia. 


338  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

obliquity  in  Mrs.  Grant's  eyes.  When  the  operation 
had  been  almost  decided  upon,  Grant  suddenly 
protested, — "  I  don't  want  to  have  your  eyes  fooled 
with.  They  are  all  right  as  they  are.  They  are 
the  same  eyes  I  looked  into  when  I  fell  in  love  with 
you  ! " 

But  even  his  affections  became  a  source  of  weak 
ness  in  the  Presidency,  when  scheming  and  ambi 
tious  men,  who  could  not  have  approached  him 
directly,  made  use  of  his  kinsmen  as  a  means  of 
communication.  Moreover,  not  all  in  the  large 
circle  of  Grant's  family  were  equally  worthy  of  con 
fidence,  and  some  showed  indeed  a  sad  lack  of  pro 
priety  in  using  his  position  and  prestige  as  a  medium 
for  personal  advancement  and  gain.  To  the  end  of 
his  days,  his  loyalty  responded  instantly  to  the  call 
of  affection,  and  some  of  his  greatest  errors  of  judg 
ment  are  to  be  attributed  to  this  trait.  When  he 
was  President,  some  members  of  Congress  called  on 
him  to  suggest  the  removal  of  a  cabinet  officer  who 
was  under  investigation.  When  the  purpose  of  the 
deputation  had  been  stated,  Grant  replied,  "  The 
true  test  of  friendship  after  all  isn't  to  stand  by  a 
man  when  he  is  in  the  right ;  any  one  will  do  that ; 
but  the  true  test  is  to  stand  by  him  when  he  is  in 
the  wrong."  And  that  test  he  accepted  and  ful 
filled. 

Sheridan  once  remarked  to  Don  Cameron  :  "  This 
is  a  queer  world.  The  less  any  one  knows  of  any 
thing,  the  more  he  thinks  he  knows.  Now  take 
Grant,  he  does  not  know  a  thing  about  finances,  but 


GRANT— THE  MAN  339 

believes  that  he  knows  it  all. "  Once  a  member  of 
the  Cabinet  called  at  the  White  House,  and  found 
Grant  pasting  internal  revenue  stamps  in  his  wife's 
check-book.  The  visitor  called  attention  to  the 
fact  that  the  checks  were  already  stamped  in  the 
printing.  Whereupon  the  President  naively  con 
fessed  that  he  had  been  pasting  stamps  on  the 
checks  for  over  a  year  ! 

Again  Sheridan  said:  " Grant  is  a  wonderful 
fellow  about  his  children.  He  thinks  Fred  is  a 
devil  of  a  fine  fellow  and  that  Buck  knows  twice  as 
much  as  Fred  and  that  Jesse  knows  more  than  both 
together."  In  the  home,  Grant  was  a  loving  and 
almost  an  indulgent  father.  His  partiality  for  chil 
dren  made  him  a  great  favorite  with  the  group  of 
youngsters  who  played  in  the  White  House  dur 
ing  his  Presidency.  At  the  second  inaugural  he 
brought  joy  to  the  heart  of  an  eight-year-old  boy  by 
inviting  him  to  sit  in  front  of  the  President's  car 
riage  upon  the  return  from  the  Capitol.  When 
Mrs.  Pickett  brought  her  children  to  the  White 
House  on  a  visit  and  was  afraid  that  the  crying  of 
the  baby  would  disturb  her  host,  Grant  at  once  re 
assured  her  and  placing  his  stick  in  the  child's  hand 
and  his  silk  hat  on  its  head,  remarked,  ' '  Now  tell 
them  that  you  will  do  as  you  please  and  that  the 
whole  place  belongs  to  you." 

In  personal  intercourse  there  is  much  contradic 
tion  in  testimony  as  to  his  habits  of  speech.  Prior 
to  the  war  his  intimates  recall  him  as  a  most  inter 
esting  conversationalist,  especially  on  topics  that 


340  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

related  to  his  own  experiences.  But  during  the  war 
he  became  popularly  known  as  reserved,  taciturn 
and  silent,  and  this  characteristic  developed  also 
during  the  period  of  the  Presidency.  It  is  highly 
probable  that  this  restraint  was  unnatural  to  Grant, 
and  was  the  result  of  the  watch  he  was  forced  to 
place  upon  his  words,  at  a  time  when  a  careless 
phrase  might  have  resulted  in  public  misconcep 
tion  and  disaster.  Among  his  staff  or  with  inti 
mate  friends,  Grant  conversed  readily  and  on  a  wide 
variety  of  topics.  He  was  not  a  raconteur  but 
sometimes  he  told  a  story  with  excellent  effect. 
General  Horace  Porter  has  recorded  an  episode  of 
the  Petersburg  campaign.  The  staff  was  discussing 
some  rumors  which  were  evident  exaggerations, 
and  in  the  chat  Grant  told  a  story  of  an  officer  who 
had  such  a  propensity  for  lying  that  he  frequently 
made  himself  absurd.  In  trying  to  amend  he  asked 
a  friend  to  touch  his  foot  under  the  table  if  he  ever 
seemed  to  exaggerate.  During  the  dinner  some  one 
mentioned  the  tendency  to  build  larger  hotels  every 
year,  and  the  amateur  Munchausen  broke  into  the 
conversation  by  describing  the  hotel  which  his 
father  had  built,  bigger  than  any  one  had  ever 
attempted  since.  "Two  hundred  ninety-six  feet 
high,  five  hundred  eighty  feet  long,  and  " — here  his 
friend  kicked  him  under  the  table  and  the  officer  con 
cluded,  in  a  subdued  tone  of  voice,  "five  and  one- 
half  feet  wide.'7 

In  the  list  of  anecdotes,  mention  should  be  made 
of  Grant's  well-known  comment  on  Sumner.     At 


GBANT— THE  MAN  341 

the  height  of  the  controversy  between  them  with 
reference  to  San  Domingo,  some  one  remarked  to 
Grant  that  Summer  did  not  believe  in  the  Bible. 
"  Of  course  not,"  replied  Grant ;  "  he  didn't  write 
it!" 

With  a  strong  interest  in  reading,  Grant  had 
little  development  of  the  aesthetic  senses.  Poetry 
and  literary  criticism  did  not  interest  him,  and  he 
was  singularly  deaf  to  the  charm  of  music.  He 
once  remarked  to  Robert  C.  Winthrop  of  Boston, — 
"  I  only  know  two  tunes,  one  is  Yankee  Doodle  and 
the  other  isn't  !  " 

No  one  ever  heard  Grant  scoff  at  religion,  and  yet 
he  did  not  formally  join  church  until  three  months 
before  his  death.  It  may  be  that  the  circumstances 
of  pioneer  life  did  not  give  opportunity  for  a  regu 
lar  church  membership,  and  it  is  certain  that  after 
ward  Grant  was  temperamentally  less  interested  in 
the  outward  signs  of  membership  than  in  the  con 
ditions  of  inward  grace.  When  he  was  baptized  in 
April,  1885,  he  said  to  Bishop  John  P.  Newman, 
whose  church  he  had  attended  for  many  years  in 
Washington,  "I  believe  in  the  Holy  Scriptures. 
Whoso  lives  by  them  will  be  benefited  thereby." 
At  the  same  time,  when  a  sinking  spell  had  almost 
ended  his  life,  Newman  asked  him, — "  What  was 
the  supreme  thought  in  your  mind  when  eternity 
seemed  so  near  f  "  To  which  the  dying  General  re 
sponded, — "The  comfort  of  the  consciousness  that 
I  have  tried  to  live  a  good  and  honorable  life. "  A 
member  of  the  family  circle  quotes  Grant  as  having 


342  ULYSSES  S.  GKANT 

once  remarked,  "I  often  prayed  silently  to  God  at 
night  and  during  the  day  that  He  might  aid  me  in 
the  performance  of  my  duties.7'  Once  he  attended 
a  communion  service  at  Dr.  Newman's  church  in 
Washington,  in  company  with  Schuyler  Colfax ; 
during  the  service  Grant  requested  Colfax  to  ac 
company  him  to  the  communion,  but  the  latter  re 
fused,  and  so  Grant  too  stayed  away. 

In  his  dealings  with  others,  Grant  was  most  scrup 
ulous  of  the  truth.  "  Tediously  truthful "  he  was 
called  by  one  of  his  staff  officers.  At  the  White 
House  an  attendant  one  day  brought  him  the  card 
of  a  visitor  when  he  was  very  busy.  "  Shall  I  tell 
the  gentleman  you  are  not  in  I "  asked  the  usher. 
"No,"  replied  the  President,  "you  will  say  noth 
ing  of  the  kind.  I  don't  lie  myself,  and  I  won't 
have  any  one  lie  for  me." 

When  Alexander  H.  Stephens  visited  the  camp 
of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac,  he  was  much  im 
pressed  by  Grant's  kindliness  of  manner  to  his  sub 
ordinates,  and  his  constant  use  of  "please"  in  his 
directions.  General  Wilson  has  commented  on  the 
same  trait,  saying:  "Without  being  effusive,  he 
was  altogether  the  most  thoughtful  and  considerate 
general  with  whom  I  ever  served."  In  the  entire 
course  of  the  war,  only  two  outbursts  of  anger  have 
been  recorded.  The  first  occurred  in  the  luka  cam 
paign,  when  Grant  found  a  straggler  who  had  as 
saulted  a  woman.  Seizing  a  musket  in  sudden  rage 
he  struck  the  culprit  over  the  head,  sending  him  to 
the  ground.  Again,  in  the  Virginia  campaign,  he 


GRANT— THE  MAN  343 

broke  out  in  vehement  denunciation  of  a  teamster 
whom  he  had  seen  abusing  a  horse. 

The  Civil  War  was  scarcely  concluded  before 
there  was  ushered  in  an  interminable  strife  among 
military  critics  as  to  the  merit  of  the  various  opera 
tions.  Grant  has  not  been  a  favorite  among  the 
critics,  many  of  whom  have  urged  that  with  his 
overwhelming  superiority  of  resources  he  should 
have  accomplished  his  results  with  a  greater  economy 
of  life.  The  answer  to  this  point  of  view  is  to  be 
found  in  Grant's  conception  of  the  war  as  a  struggle 
which  had  to  be  fought  to  a  finish.  It  was  necessary 
that  not  only  should  the  North  win,  but  also  that 
the  South  should  know  itself  to  be  defeated,  so  that 
the  conflict  would  be  ended  for  all  time.  A  cam 
paign  of  higher  strategy  might  have  taken  Eich- 
mond,  but  until  Lee's  army  was  overwhelmed,  the 
South  would  not  recognize  its  defeat,  and  to  conquer 
Lee's  veterans  a  great  sacrifice  of  life  was  inevitable. 

One  of  the  great  factors  in  his  military  success 
was  his  complete  familiarity  with  all  phases  of 
command.  After  the  war,  Grant  once  remarked  to 
Hillyer,  his  St.  Louis  friend,— "  I  think  I  should 
have  failed  in  this  position  if  I  had  come  to  it  in  the 
beginning,  because  I  should  not  have  had  confidence 
enough.  You  see  I  have  come  through  all  the  grades 
of  the  service, — captain,  colonel,  brigade,  division, 
corps,  army, — and  I  am  confident  of  myself  now. 
McClellan's  misfortune,  I  always  believed,  was  in 
his  clearing  all  the  grades  at  once,  and  hence  feeling 
a  want  of  confidence  in  this  great  responsibility." 


344  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

Even  the  experience  as  quartermaster  helped  in 
qualifying  him  for  high  command  j  Grant  always 
was  in  touch  with  the  arrangements  for  supplies, 
and  as  a  consequence  his  men  were  kept  fit  for  their 
work. 

In  his  methods  and  strategy  there  is  nothing 
which  revolutionized  military  science.  He  brought 
all  the  resources  of  a  sturdy  common  sense,  aided  by 
a  dogged  resolution,  to  bear  on  his  problem,  and 
that  is  all !  General  Alexander,  who  served  as 
Lee's  Chief  of  Artillery,  includes  among  Grant's 
rare  qualities  "his  ability  to  make  his  battles  keep 
their  schedule  times."  There  was  a  clear  and 
simple  reason  for  this.  When  he  had  written  out 
his  orders  for  one  corps  commander,  he  would  send 
copies  to  all  of  the  other  generals,  so  that  each 
would  understand  not  only  his  own  part,  but  the 
part  of  each  of  the  others  in  the  common  result. 
After  the  war,  General  Ewell  commented  most 
favorably  on  this  practice,  which  was  wholly  un 
like  anything  practiced  in  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia. 

His  strategy  is  seen  at  its  best  in  the  campaign 
before  Vicksburg,  and  in  the  last  campaign  against 
Lee.  Perhaps  the  last  ten  days  prior  to  Appomattox 
revealed  Grant's  powers  to  best  advantage,  and  his 
use  of  cavalry  with  infantry  while  in  pursuit  of 
Lee  has  been  highly  commended  as  one  of  the  most 
original  strokes  of  the  war.  But  in  all  of  the  cam 
paigns  his  concentration  of  resources  against  the 
material  point,  his  continuous  fighting  until  the  end 


GEANT— THE  MAN  345 

was  attained,  and  his  constant  use  of  all  that  he  had, 
stamp  his  leadership  as  of  the  highest  quality. 
Many  critics  have  instituted  a  comparison  between 
Grant  and  Lee,  perhaps  because  their  qualities, 
both  military  and  personal,  made  so  striking  a  con 
trast,  and  considering  the  difference  in  the  resources 
of  each,  they  generally  conclude  that  Lee  was  the 
better  general.  In  qualification  of  this  point  of 
view,  however,  it  is  well  to  remember  the  story, 
that  once  when  an  ex-Confederate  officer  was 
criticizing  Grant's  generalship  to  Lee,  the  latter 
promptly  interrupted, — "  You  pay  me  a  very  poor 
compliment,  sir,  when  you  rate  so  low  the  general 
who  compelled  my  army  to  surrender." 

On  the  battle-field,  and  in  the  crises  of  a  campaign, 
his  mind  worked  very  rapidly  and  with  perfect 
clearness.  Thus,  when  at  Missionary  Eidge,  the 
messengers  from  Hooker  brought  the  news  of  his 
victory  on  Lookout  Mountain  with  so  little  loss, 
Grant  at  once  concluded  that  so  cheap  a  victory 
against  the  enemy's  left  must  indicate  that  Bragg 
had  heavily  reinforced  his  right  against  Sherman. 

It  is  not,  however,  by  scientific  contributions  to 
the  theory  of  war  that  Grant's  name  will  live.  It 
is  rather  for  his  personal  qualities,  and  the  de 
termination  which  he  brought  into  the  struggle. 
From  the  beginning  he  had  no  doubts,  either  as  to 
the  righteousness  of  his  cause,  or  its  final  triumph. 
From  early  boyhood  his  strong  will  and  determi 
nation  attracted  attention.  He  once  remarked  that 
he  would  never  turn  back  if  he  could  possibly  avoid 


346  ULYSSES  S.  GBANT 

it.  When  a  lad  he  had  started  on  horseback  to  go 
to  the  mill  and  while  musing  he  had  passed  the  road 
which  led  to  it ;  instead  of  retracing  his  steps  he 
drove  a  long  distance  around  so  as  to  reach  the  mill 
without  turning  back.  When  his  dogged  determi 
nation  became  centred  on  the  problems  of  the  war,  it 
was  irresistible.  In  the  darkest  days  of  1864,  Grant 
said, — "  I  feel  as  certain  of  crushing  Lee  as  I  do  of 
dying." 

This  was  the  secret  of  his  influence  on  Sherman, 
McPherson  and  Sheridan.  Toward  the  close  of  the 
war,  Sherman  once  opened  his  heart  to  Wilson, 
who  had  joined  him  in  the  Georgia  campaign, — 
u  Wilson,  I  am  a  damned  sight  smarter  man  than 
Grant ;  I  know  a  great  deal  more  about  war, 
military  history,  strategy  and  grand  tactics  than  he 
does  ;  I  know  more  about  organization,  supply  and 
administration  and  about  everything  else  than  he 
does  ;  but  I'll  tell  you  where  he  beats  me  and  where 
he  beats  the  world.  He  don't  care  a  damn  for  what 
the  enemy  does  out  of  his  sight,  but  it  scares  me  like 
Hell!"  Again,  General  Howard  once  said:  "If 
at  any  time  one  said  to  Grant,  i  Our  men  are  worn 
out/  '  They  are  short  of  rations,'  'They  need  rest,' 
he  would  answer,  '  Just  so  it  is  with  the  enemy.' 
Speeches  like  this  seemed  to  be  heartless,  but  it 
meant, — i  Go  on  now,  and  make  a  little  larger 
sacrifice  and  you  will  gain  the  victory.  The  enemy 
is  as  weak  as  you  are.'  " 

There  are  many  illustrations  of  this  trait  in  the 
stories  of  the  war.  In  the  Wilderness,  an  excited 


GRANT— THE  MAN  347 

aide  rode  up  to  Grant,  "General,  Lee  is  in  our 
rear."  "All  right,'7  returned  Grant,  "  then  we  are 
in  his  rear.'7  Again,  when  Ewell  made  his  final 
attack  on  Sedgwick,  one  general  warned  Grant  that 
this  was  Lee's  method,  and  that  the  Union  Army 
would  soon  be  outflanked.  "  I  am  heartily  tired  of 
hearing  about  what  Lee  is  going  to  do,7'  was  Grant's 
response.  "Some  of  you  always  seem  to  think  that 
he  is  suddenly  going  to  turn  a  double  somersault, 
and  laud  on  our  rear  and  both  of  our  flanks  at  the 
same  time.  Go  back  to  your  command,  and  try  to 
think  what  we  are  going  to  do  ourselves,  instead  of 
what  Lee  is  going  to  do."  It  was  Lincoln's  recogni 
tion  of  Grant's  unfaltering  purpose  which  gave  him 
such  absolute  confidence  in  his  general.  "  The 
great  thing  about  Grant,"  he  said  to  Carpenter,  "  is 
his  perfect  coolness  and  persistency  of  purpose.  I 
judge  he  is  not  easily  excited, — which  is  a  great 
element  in  an  officer, — and  he  has  the  grit  of  a  bull 
dog  !  Once  let  him  get  his  teeth  in,  and  nothing 
can  shake  him  off." 

Here  then  is  the  secret  of  his  greatness.  In 
command  of  an  army,  he  had  a  complete  knowledge 
of  its  organization  and  capacity  ;  he  clearly  and 
quickly  thought  out  the  possibilities  of  a  situation  ; 
and  his  dogged  and  unfaltering  persistence  kept  his 
men  at  the  task  until  the  work  was  done.  It  may 
be  asked  why  did  not  these  same  qualities  bring 
him  success  in  civil  life?  The  answer  is  clear, 
because  he  needed  some  supreme  crisis  to  make  him 
work  at  his  best.  With  Grant,  love  of  country  was 


348  ULYSSES  S.  GEANT 

the  mastering  devotion.  When  there  was  a  funda 
mental  problem  to  be  solved,  he  could  arouse  his 
mighty  powers  ;  but  in  the  ordinary  affairs  of  life 
there  was  no  special  call  for  him.  It  is  highly 
significant  that  when  Oliver  Wendell  Holmes  met 
the  General  in  1865,  what  first  attracted  him  was 
the  "entire  loss  of  selfhood  in  a  great  aim  which 
made  all  the  common  influences  which  stir  up  other 
people  as  nothing  to  him." 

In  civil  life,  the  call  to  the  patriot  is  not  always 
clear.  In  the  contending  of  factions,  when  all 
appeal  alike  to  love  of  country,  Grant  found  no 
guiding  star.  Sometimes  a  question  would  come 
up,  like  the  proposed  inflation  of  the  currency,  which 
appealed  to  his  temperament  as  a  fundamental  ques 
tion  of  right  or  wrong,  and  then  he  was  just  as 
decisive  as  on  the  battle-field.  But  ordinarily  he 
saw  little  in  civil  administration,  except  the  strife 
of  parties  for  place,  and  in  a  rivalry  between  friends 
and  foes  he  supported  his  friends. 

The  ideal  of  a  soldier  of  a  republic  has  probably 
never  been  more  fully  realized  than  in  Grant ; — his 
simplicity  of  manner,  lack  of  ostentation,  repug 
nance  to  military  parade,  which  amounted  to  al 
most  an  aversion,  his  fixed  devotion  to  the  institu 
tions  of  his  country,  contrast  strongly  with  the 
personal  ambition  for  self-aggrandizement  of  the 
typical  soldier  of  the  preceding  centuries.  Grant 
always  manifested  a  strong  respect  for  law  as  the 
expression  of  the  supreme  will  of  the  people. 
When  he  was  President  he  once  said,  "The  best 


GRANT— THE  MAN  349 

means  of  securing  the  repeal  of  an  obnoxious  law  is 
its  vigorous  enforcement. "  In  the  exciting  days  of 
the  reconstruction  controversy,  Johnson  once  asked 
Grant  where  he  would  be  found  in  the  event  of  a 
rupture  between  Congress  and  the  President.  The 
answer  was,  "That  will  depend  entirely  upon 
which  is  the  revolutionary  party." 

While  Grant's  fame  will  rest  chiefly  upon  his 
services  during  the  war,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  he 
has  also  made  a  permanent  and  enduring  contribu 
tion  to  literature.  Prior  to  the  publication  of  the 
"  Memoirs, "  it  had  long  been  recognized  that  Grant 
wrote  quickly  and  well.  His  military  messages  and 
orders  written  upon  the  field  of  battle  had  certain 
characteristics  of  clearness,  and  they  showed  not 
only  lucidity  of  thought  but  great  power  of  expres 
sion.  The  common  speech  of  the  nation  would  be 
poorer  if  it  were  not  for  his  additions  to  the  store 
of  apt  expressions.  As  illustrations, — "  Immediate 
and  unconditional  surrender."  "  I  propose  to  move 
immediately  on  your  works."  "I  shall  take  no 
backward  steps."  "I  propose  to  fight  it  out  on 
this  line  if  it  takes  all  summer."  "  I  shall  have  no 
policy  to  enforce  against  the  will  of  the  people." 
"If  a  command  inferior  to  my  rank  is  given  me,  it 
shall  make  no  difference  in  my  zeal."  "Let  no 
guilty  man  escape."  It  took  a  man  of  heroic 
mould  to  send  word  to  Logan  in  the  middle  of  the 
battle  of  Champion  Hill  when  the  attack  was  being 
pressed  with  great  vigor,  "  Tell  Logan  he  is  making 
history  to-day." 


350  ULYSSES  S.  GRANT 

A  study  of  Grant's  addresses  and  state  papers 
during  the  Presidency  discloses  a  statesmanlike 
grasp  of  many  interesting  questions.  He  strongly 
urged  an  iuteroceauic  canal,  and  in  one  of  his  state 
ments  said,  '  *  I  commend  an  American  canal  on 
American  soil  to  the  American  people. ' '  When  the 
movement  toward  civil  service  reform  was  instituted, 
he  wrote, — "The  present  system  does  not  secure 
the  best  men,  and  often  not  even  fit  men,  for  public 
place.  The  elevation  and  purification  of  the  civil 
service  of  the  Government  will  be  hailed  with  ap 
proval  by  the  whole  people  of  the  United  States." 
After  his  European  experience,  he  anticipated  a 
great  movement  toward  public  recreational  centers 
in  the  following, — "All  cities  ought  to  have  simi 
lar  places  where  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  high  and 
the  low,  may  meet  on  a  footing  of  equality  ;  where 
they  may  have  aesthetic,  instructive  and  other  inno 
cent  amusements  ;  and  where  all  behave  themselves 
in  a  proper  manner,  as  is  the  case  in  the  Tivoli 
Garden  in  Copenhagen.  It  would  keep  the  poor 
people  from  grumbling,  as  well  as  from  revolution 
ary  tendencies.'7  But,  perhaps,  the  most  striking 
of  all  his  comments  was  that  upon  war, — "Though 
I  have  been  trained  as  a  soldier  and  have  partici 
pated  in  many  battles,  there  never  was  a  time  when 
in  my  opinion  some  way  could  not  have  been  found 
of  preventing  the  drawing  of  the  sword.  I  look 
forward  to  an  epoch  when  a  court  recognized  by  all 
nations  will  settle  international  differences  instead  of 
keeping  large  standing  armies  as  they  do  in  Europe. " 


GBANT— THE  MAN  351 

Here  then  was  a  man  who  made  a  poor  beginning 
in  life,  but  recognizing  his  mistake  he  redeemed 
himself  at  the  right  time.  When  the  crisis  came, 
his  military  experience  and  poise  enabled  him 
to  do  something  even  with  small  resources,  un 
til  at  last  he  won  recognition  as  the  best-qualified 
man  in  the  nation  for  large  command.  When  the 
war  had  been  fought  to  a  finish  and  the  Union  pre 
served,  the  gratitude  of  his  countrymen  brought 
him  into  civil  life  for  which  he  had  little  aptitude 
and  no  previous  training.  Even  in  these  new  ex 
periences,  however,  he  showed  himself  right  upon 
fundamental  questions,  and  if  he  was  not  able  to 
curb  the  administrative  demoralization  of  his  time, 
it  may  at  least  be  questioned  whether  any  other  could 
have  done  much  better.  In  war  and  in  peace,  he 
never  doubted  the  future  of  his  country  or  the  se 
curity  of  its  institutions.  The  world  will  not  will 
ingly  forget  the  life  and  work  of  a  conqueror  whose 
first  thought  was  of  sympathy  with  the  sensitive 
feelings  of  the  vanquished,  and  whose  message  to 
his  countrymen  when  on  the  verge  of  his  highest 
honor  was,— "  Let  us  have  Peace."  l 

1  Recently  there  has  been  an  interesting  contribution  to  the 
Grant  Genealogy,  in  "Heredity  in  Relation  to  Eugenics,"  by 
Charles  Benedict  Davenport.  It  is  stated  that  both  Grant  and 
Grover  Cleveland  were  directly  descended  from  Ann  Richardson 
and  hence  related  to  the  fine  Puritan  stock  of  New  England. 
The  student  of  heredity  could  draw  an  interesting  parallel  be 
tween  these  two  men  who  had  in  common  not  only  certain  fun 
damentals  of  character,  but  also  outward  resemblances  of 
manner. 

THE  END 


APPENDIX  A 

LETTERS  OF  GRANT  AND  SHERMAN 
MARCH,  1864 

Nashville,  Tennessee,  March  4,  1864. 

DEAR  SHERMAN  : 

The  bill  reviving  the  grade  of  lieutenant-gen 
eral  in  the  army  has  become  a  law,  and  my  name 
has  been  sent  to  the  Senate  for  the  place. 

I  now  receive  orders  to  report  at  Washington  im 
mediately,  in  person,  which  indicates  either  a  con 
firmation  or  a  likelihood  of  confirmation.  I  start  in 
the  morning  to  comply  with  the  order,  but  I  shall 
say  very  distinctly  on  my  arrival  there  that  I  shall 
accept  no  appointment  which  will  require  me  to 
make  that  city  my  headquarters.  This,  however,  is 
not  what  I  started  out  to  write  about. 

While  I  have  been  eminently  successful  in  this 
war,  in  at  least  gaining  the  confidence  of  the  public, 
no  one  feels  more  than  I  how  much  of  this  success 
is  due  to  the  energy,  skill,  and  the  harmonious  put 
ting  forth  of  that  energy  and  skill,  of  those  whom  it 
has  been  my  good  fortune  to  have  occupying  sub 
ordinate  positions  under  me. 

There  are  many  officers  to  whom  these  remarks 
are  applicable  to  a  greater  or  less  degree,  propor 
tionate  to  their  ability  as  soldiers  ;  but  what  I  want 
is  to  express  my  thanks  to  you  and  McPhersou,  as 
the  men  to  whom,  above  all  others,  I  feel  indebted 
for  whatever  I  have  had  of  success.  How  far  your 
advice  and  suggestions  have  been  of  assistance,  you 


APPENDIX  A  353 

know.  How  far  your  execution  of  whatever  has 
been  given  you  to  do  entitles  you  to  the  reward  I 
am  receiving,  you  cannot  know  as  well  as  I  do.  I 
feel  all  the  gratitude  this  letter  would  express,  giv 
ing  it  the  most  flattering  construction. 

The  word  you  I  use  in  the  plural,  intending  it  for 
McPherson  also.  I  should  write  to  him,  and  will 
some  day,  but,  starting  in  the  morning,  I  do  not 
know  that  I  will  find  time  just  now.  Your  friend, 

U.  S.  GRANT, 
Major-  General. 


Near  Memphis,  March  10,  1864- 

GENERAL  GRANT  : 

Dear  General : — I  have  your  more  than  kind 
and  characteristic  letter  of  the  4th,  and  will  send  a 
copy  of  it  to  General  McPherson  at  once. 

You  do  yourself  inj  ustice  and  us  too  much  honor 
in  assigning  to  us  so  large  a  share  of  the  merits 
which  have  led  to  your  high  advancement.  I  know 
you  approve  the  friendship  I  have  ever  professed  to 
you,  and  will  permit  me  to  continue  as  heretofore 
to  manifest  it  on  all  proper  occasions. 

You  are  now  Washington's  legitimate  successor, 
and  occupy  a  position  of  almost  dangerous  eleva 
tion  ;  but  if  you  can  continue  as  heretofore  to  be 
yourself,  simple,  honest,  and  unpretending,  you  will 
enjoy  through  life  the  respect  and  love  of  friends, 
and  the  homage  of  millions  of  human  beings  who 
will  award  to  you  a  large  share  for  securing  to  them 
and  their  descendants  a  government  of  law  and  sta 
bility. 

I  repeat,  you  do  General  McPherson  and  myself 
too  much  honor.  At  Belmont  you  manifested  your 
traits,  neither  of  us  being  near ;  at  Donelson  also 


354  APPENDIX  A 

you  illustrated  your  whole  character.  I  was  not 
near,  and  General  McPherson  in  too  subordinate  a 
capacity  to  influence  you. 

Until  you  had  won  Donelson,  I  confess  I  was  al 
most  cowed  by  the  terrible  array  of  anarchical  ele 
ments  that  presented  themselves  at  every  point ; 
but  that  victory  admitted  the  ray  of  light  which  I 
have  followed  ever  since. 

I  believe  you  are  as  brave,  patriotic,  and  just  as 
the  great  prototype  Washington  ;  as  unselfish,  kind- 
hearted,  and  honest  as  a  man  should  be ;  but  the 
chief  characteristic  in  your  nature  is  the  simple 
faith  in  success  you  have  always  manifested,  which 
I  can  liken  to  nothing  else  than  the  faith  a  Christian 
has  in  his  Saviour. 

This  faith  gave  you  the  victory  at  Shiloh  and 
Vicksburg.  Also,  when  you  have  completed  your 
best  preparations,  you  go  into  battle  without  hesi 
tation,  as  at  Chattanooga — no  doubts,  no  reserve  ; 
and  I  tell  you  that  it  was  this  that  made  us  act  with 
confidence.  I  knew  wherever  I  was  that  you 
thought  of  me,  and  if  I  got  in  a  tight  place  you 
would  come — if  alive. 

My  only  points  of  doubt  were  as  to  your  knowledge 
of  grand  strategy,  and  of  books  of  science  and  his 
tory  ;  but  I  confess  your  common-sense  seems  to  have 
supplied  all  this. 

Now  as  to  the  future.  Do  not  stay  in  Washing 
ton.  Halleck  is  better  qualified  than  you  are  to 
stand  the  buffets  of  intrigue  and  policy.  Come  out 
West ;  take  to  yourself  the  whole  Mississippi  Val 
ley  ;  let  us  make  it  dead-sure,  and  I  tell  you  the 
Atlantic  slope  and  Pacific  shores  will  follow  its 
destiny  as  sure  as  the  limbs  of  a  tree  live  or  die  with 
the  main  trunk  !  We  have  done  much  ;  still  much 
remains  to  be  done.  Time  and  time's  influences  are 
all  with  us ;  we  could  almost  afford  to  sit  still  and 


APPENDIX  A  355 

let  these  influences  work.  Even  in  the  seceded 
States  your  word  now  would  go  further  than  a 
President's  proclamation,  or  an  act  of  Congress. 

For  God's  sake  and  for  your  country's  sake,  come 
out  of  Washington  !  I  foretold  to  General  Halleck, 
before  he  left  Corinth,  the  inevitable  result  to  him, 
and  I  now  exhort  you  to  come  out  West.  Here  lies 
the  seat  of  the  coming  empire  ;  and  from  the  West, 
when  our  task  is  done,  we  will  make  short  work  of 
Charleston  and  Eichmond,  and  the  impoverished 
coast  of  the  Atlantic. 

Your  sincere  friend, 

W.  T.  SHERMAN. 


APPENDIX  B 

THE  OFFICIAL  ORDERS  IN  MAY,  1864 

Headquarters,  Army  of  the  Potomac, 

May  2,  1864. 
Orders ; 

1.  The  army  will  move  on  Wednesday,  the  4th 
May,  1864. 

2.  On    the    day    previous,    Tuesday,    the    3d 
May,  Major-General  Sheridan,  commanding  Cavalry 
Corps,  will  move  Gregg's  cavalry  division  to  the 
vicinity  of  Richardsville.     It  will  be  accompanied 
by  one-half  of  the  canvas  pontoon  train,  the  engi 
neer  troops  with  which  will  repair  the  road  to  Ely's 
ford  as  far  as  practicable  without  exposing  their 
work  to  the  observation  of  the  enemy. 

Guards  will  be  placed  in  all  the  occupied  houses 
on  or  in  the  vicinity  of  the  route  of  the  cavalry,  and 
in  advance  toward  the  Eapidan,  so  as  to  prevent 
any  communication  with  the  enemy  by  the  inhabit 
ants.  The  same  precaution  will  be  taken  at  the 
same  time  in  front  of  the  First  and  Third  Cavalry 
Divisions,  and  wherever  it  may  be  considered  neces 
sary. 

At  2  o'clock  A.  M.,  on  the  4th  May,  Gregg's  di 
vision  will  move  to  Ely's  ford,  cross  the  Kapidan 
as  soon  as  the  canvas  pontoon  bridge  is  laid,  if  the 
river  is  not  fordable,  and  as  soon  as  the  infantry  of 
the  Second  Corps  is  up  will  move  to  the  vicinity 
of  Piney  Branch  Church,  or  in  that  section,  throw 
ing  reconnaissances  well  out  on  the  Pamunkey  road 


APPENDIX  B  357 

toward  Spottsylvania  Court  House,  Hamilton's 
crossing  and  Fredericksburg. 

The  roads  past  Piney  Branch  Church,  Tod's 
tavern,  etc.,  will  be  kept  clear  for  the  passage  of 
the  infantry  the  following  day. 

The  cavalry  division  will  remain  in  this  position 
to  cover  the  passage  of  the  army  trains,  and  will 
move  with  them  and  cover  their  left  flank. 

At  midnight  on  the  3d  May,  the  Third  Cavalry 
Division,  with  one-half  the  canvas  pontoon  bridge 
train,  which  will  join  it  after  dark,  will  move  to 
Gerinania  ford,  taking  the  plank-road  and  cross  the 
Rapidan  as  soon  as  the  bridge  is  laid,  if  the  river  is 
not  fordable,  and  hold  the  crossing  until  the  infantry 
of  the  Fifth  Corps  is  up  ;  it  will  then  move  to 
Parker's  store  on  the  Orange  Court  House  plank- 
road  or  that  vicinity,  sending  out  strong  reconnais 
sances  on  the  Orange  plank  and  pike  roads,  and 
the  Catharpiu  and  Pamunkey  roads,  until  they  feel 
the  enemy,  and  at  least  as  far  as  Robertson's  tavern, 
the  Hope  Church,  and  Orinond's  or  Kobiuson's. 

All  intelligence  concerning  the  enemy  will  be 
communicated  with  promptitude  to  headquarters, 
and  to  the  corps  and  division  commanders  of  the 
nearest  infantry  troops. 

3.  Major-General  Warren,  commanding  Fifth 
Corps,  will  send  two  divisions  at  midnight  of  the  3d 
instant  by  way  of  Steveusburg  and  the  plank-road  to 
the  crossing  of  Germania  ford.  So  much  bridge 
train  as  may  be  necessary  to  bridge  the  Rapidau  at 
Germauia  ford,  with  such  artillery  as  may  be  re 
quired,  will  accompany  these  divisions,  which  will 
be  followed  by  the  remainder  of  the  corps  at  such 
hour  that  the  column  will  cross  the  Rapidan  with 
out  delay.  Such  disposition  of  the  troops  and  ar 
tillery  as  may  be  found  necessary  to  cover  the 
bridge  will  be  made  by  the  corps  commander,  who, 


358  APPENDIX  B 

after  crossing,  will  move  to  the  vicinity  of  the  Old 
Wilderness  tavern  on  the  Orange  Court  House  pike. 
The  corps  will  move  the  following  day  past  the  head 
of  Catharpin's  Run,  crossing  the  Orange  Court 
House  plank-road  at  Parker's  store. 

4.  Major-General  Sedgwick,  commanding  Sixth 
Corps,  will  move  at  4  A.  M.,  on  the  4th  iust,  by 
way  of  Stevensburg  and  Germauia  plank-road  to 
Germauia  ford,  following  the  Fifth  Corps,  and  after 
crossing  the  Rapidan  will  bivouac  on  the  heights 
beyond.     The  canvas  pontoon  train  will  be  taken 
up  as  soon  as  the  troops  of  the  Sixth  Corps  have 
crossed,  and  will  follow  immediately  in  rear  of  the 
troops  of  that  corps. 

So  much  of  the  bridge  train  of  the  Sixth  Corps  as 
may  be  necessary  to  bridge  the  Rapidan  at  Cul- 
peper  Mine  ford  will  proceed  to  Eichardsville  in 
rear  of  the  reserve  artillery,  and  as  soon  as  it  is  as 
certained  that  the  reserve  artillery  are  crossing,  it 
will  move  to  Culpeper  Mine  ford,  where  the  bridge 
will  be  established. 

The  engineers  of  this  bridge  train  will  at  once 
open  a  road  from  Culpeper  Mine  ford  direct  to 
Richardsville. 

5.  Major-General  Hancock,  commanding  Second 
Corps,  will  send  two  divisions,  with  so  much  of  the 
bridge  train  as  may  be  necessary  to  bridge  the  Rap- 
idan  at  Ely's  ford,  and  such  artillery  as  may  be  re 
quired,  at  midnight  of  the  3d  instant,  to  Ely's  ford. 
The  remainder  of  the  corps  will  follow  at  such  hour 
that  the  column  will   cross  the  Rapidan  without 
delay. 

The  canvas  pontoon  train  at  this  ford  will  be 
taken  up  as  soon  as  the  troops  of  this  corps  have 
passed,  and  will  move  with  it  at  the  head  of  the 
trains  that  accompany  the  troops.  The  wooden 
pontoon  bridge  will  remain. 


APPENDIX  B  359 

The  Second  Corps  will  enter  the  Stevensburg  and 
Bichardsville  road  at  Madden's,  in  order  that  the 
route  from  Stevensburg  to  the  plank-road  may  be 
free  for  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  Corps.  After  crossing 
the  Eapidan  the  Second  Corps  will  move  to  the 
vicinity  of  Chandler's  or  Chancellorsville. 

6.  It  is  expected  that  the  advance  divisions  of 
the  Fifth  and  Second  Corps,  with  the  wooden  pon 
toon  trains,  will  be  at  the  designated  points  of  cross 
ing  not  later  than  6  A.  M.  of  the  4th  instant. 

7.  The  reserve  artillery  will  move  at  3  A.  M.  of 
the  4th  instant  and  follow  the  Second  Corps,  passing 
Mountain  Eun  at  Eoss's  mills  or  Hamilton's  cross 
ing  at  Ely's  ford,  take  the  road  to  Chancellorsville, 
and  halt  for  the  night  at  Hunting  Creek. 

8.  Great  care  will  be  taken  by  the  corps  com 
manders  that  the  roads  are  promptly  repaired  by 
the  pioneers  wherever  needed,    not  only   for  the 
temporary  wants  of  the  division  or  corps  to  which 
the  pioneers  belong,  but  for  the  passage  of  the  troops 
and  trains  that  follow  on  the  same  route. 

9.  During  the  movement  on  the  4th  and  follow 
ing  days,  the  commanders  of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth 
Corps  will  occupy  the  roads  on  the  right  flank  to 
cover  the  passage  of  their  corps,  and  will  keep  their 
flankers  well  out  in  that  direction. 

The  commanders  of  the  Second  Corps  and  reserve 
artillery  will  in  a  similar  manner  look  out  for  the 
left  flank. 

Wherever  practicable,  double  columns  will  be 
used  to  shorten  the  columns.  Corps  commanders 
will  keep  in  communication  and  connection  with 
each  other,  and  cooperate  wherever  necessary. 
Their  picket  lines  will  be  connected.  They  will 
keep  the  Commanding  General  constantly  advised 
of  their  progress  and  of  everything  important  that 
occurs,  and  will  send  staff  officers  to  acquaint  him 


360  APPENDIX  B 

with  the  location  of  their  headquarters.  During 
the  movement  of  the  4th  instant,  headquarters  will 
be  on  the  route  of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  Corps.  It 
will  be  established  at  night  between  those  corps  and 
the  Germania  plank-road. 

10.  The  infantry  troops  will  take  with  them  fifty 
rounds  of  ammunition  upon  the  person,  three  (3) 
days'  full  rations  in  the  haversacks,  three  (3)  days7 
bread  and  small  rations  in  the  knapsacks,  and  three 
days'  beef  on  the  hoof. 

Each  corps  will  take  with  it  one-half  of  its  in 
trenching  tools,  one  hospital  wagon,  and  one  medium 
wagon  for  each  brigade  ;  one-half  of  the  ambulance 
trains  and  the  light  spring- wagons,  and  pack  an 
imals  allowed  at  the  various  headquarters. 

No  other  trains  or  means  of  transportation  than 
those  just  specified  will  accompany  the  corps,  except 
such  wagons  as  may  be  necessary  for  the  forage  for 
immediate  use  for  five  (5)  days.  The  artillery  will 
have  with  them  the  ammunition  of  the  caissons  only. 

11.  The  subsistence  and  other  trains  loaded  with 
the  amount  of  rations,  forage,  infantry  and  artillery 
ammunition,  etc.,   heretofore  ordered,  the  surplus 
wooden  pontoons  of  the  different  corps,  etc.,  will  be 
assembled  under  the  direction  of  the  Chief  Quarter 
master  of  the  army  in  the  vicinity  of  Richardsville, 
with  a  view  to  crossing  the  Kapidan  by  bridges  at 
Ely's  ford  and  Culpeper  Mine  ford. 

12.  A  detail  of  1,000  or  1,200  men  will  be  made 
from   each   corps  as  guard  for  its  subsistence  and 
other  trains  ;  this  detail  will  be  composed  of  entire 
regiments  as  far  as  practicable.     No  other  guards 
whatever  for  regimental,  brigade,  division,  or  corps 
wagons  will  be  allowed.     Each  detail  will  be  under 
the  command  of  an  officer  selected  for  that  purpose, 
and  the  whole  will  be  commanded  by  the  senior 
officer  of  the  three. 


APPENDIX  B  361 

This  guard  will  be  so  disposed  as  to  protect  the 
trains  on  the  march  and  in  park.  The  trains  are 
likewise  protected  by  cavalry  on  the  flank  and  rear. 

13.  Major-General    Sheridan,    commanding  the 
Cavalry  Corps,  will  direct  the  first  Cavalry  Division 
to  call  in  its  pickets  and  patrols  on  the  right  on  the 
morning  of  the  4th  instant  and  hold  itself  ready  to 
move  and  cover  the  trains  of  the  army  ;    it  will 
picket  and  watch  the  fords  of  the  Eapidan  from 
Eapidan  Station  to  Germania  ford.     On  the  morn 
ing  of  the  5th  the  First  Cavalry  Division  will  cross 
the  Eapidan  at  Germania  ford  and  cover  the  right 
flank  of  the  trains  while  crossing  the  Eapidan  and 
during  their  movements  in  rear  of  the  army. 

The  signal  stations  on  Cedar,  Pouey,  and  Stoney 
Mountains  will  be  maintained  as  long  as  practicable. 

14.  The  wooden  pontoon  train  at  Germania  and 
Ely's  fords  will  remain  for  the  passage  of  General 
Burnside's    Army.     That  at  Culpeper  Mine  ford 
will  be  taken  up  under  the  direction  of  the  Chief 
Engineer  as  soon  as  the  trains  have  crossed,  and  will 
move  with  the  train  of  its  corps. 

By  command  of  Major-General  Meade, 

S.  WILLIAMS, 

Asst.  Adjutant-  General. 


APPENDIX  C 

CONCLUDING  CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  GRANT 
AND  LEE 

The  concluding  correspondence  between  Grant 
and  Lee  is  here  given  in  full. 

[No.  1.] 

April  7,  1865. 

General : — The  result  of  the  last  week  must  con 
vince  you  of  the  hopelessness  of  further  resistance 
on  the  part  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia  in 
this  struggle.  I  feel  that  it  is  so,  and  regard  it  as 
my  duty  to  shift  from  myself  the  responsibility  of 
any  further  effusion  of  blood,  by  asking  of  you  the 
surrender  of  that  portion  of  the  Confederate  States 
Army  known  as  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

U.  S.  GRANT, 

Lieutenant-  General. 
GENERAL  E.  E.  LEE. 

[No.  2.] 

April  7,  1865. 

General : — I  have  received  your  note  of  this  date. 
Though  not  entertaining  the  opinion  you  express 
on  the  hopelessness  of  further  resistance  on  the  part 
of  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia,  I  reciprocate 
your  desire  to  avoid  useless  effusion  of  blood,  and 
therefore,  before  considering  your  proposition,  ask 
the  terms  you  will  offer  on  condition  of  its  surrender. 

B.  E.  LEE, 

General. 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT. 


APPENDIX  C  363 

[No.  a] 

April  8,  1865. 

General  .—Your  note  of  last  evening  in  reply  to 
mine  of  same  date,  asking  the  condition  on  which  I 
will  accept  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia,  is  just  received.  In  reply,  I  would  say 
that  peace  being  my  great  desire,  there  is  but  one 
condition  I  would  insist  upon,  namely,  that  the 
men  and  officers  surrendered  shall  be  disqualified  for 
taking  up  arms  again  against  the  Government  of  the 
United  States  until  properly  exchanged.  I  will 
meet  you,  or  will  designate  officers  to  meet  any  of 
ficers  you  may  name  for  the  same  purpose,  at  any 
point  agreeable  to  you,  for  the  purpose  of  arranging 
definitely  the  terms  upon  which  the  surrender  of  the 
Army  of  Northern  Virginia  will  be  received. 

U.  S.  GRANT, 

Lieutenant-  General. 

GENERAL  E.  E.  LEE. 


[No.  4.] 

April  8,  1865. 

General : — I  received  at  a  late  hour  your  note  of 
to-day.  In  mine  of  yesterday  I  did  not  intend  to 
propose  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern 
Virginia,  but  to  ask  the  terms  of  your  proposition. 
To  be  frank,  I  do  not  think  the  emergency  has 
arisen  to  call  for  the  surrender  of  this  army,  but  as 
the  restoration  of  peace  should  be  the  sole  object  of 
all,  I  desire  to  know  whether  your  proposals  would 
lead  to  that  end.  I  cannot,  therefore,  meet  you  with 
a  view  to  surrender  the  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 
but  as  far  as  your  proposal  may  affect  the  Confeder 
ate  States  forces  under  my  command,  and  tend  to 
the  restoration  of  peace,  I  should  be  pleased  to  meet 
you  at  ten  A.  M.  to-morrow  on  the  old  stage  road 


364  APPENDIX  C 

to  Eichmond,  between  the  picket-lines  of  the  two 
armies. 

E.  E.  LEE, 

General. 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT. 

[No.  6.] 

April  9,  1865. 

General: — Your  note  of  yesterday  received.  I 
have  no  authority  to  treat  on  the  subject  of  peace  ; 
the  meeting  proposed  for  ten  A.  M.  to-day  could  lead 
to  no  good.  I  will  state  however,  General,  that  I 
am  equally  anxious  for  peace  with  yourself,  and  the 
whole  North  entertains  the  same  feeling.  The  terms 
upon  which  peace  can  be  had  are  well  understood. 

By  the  South  laying  down  their  arms  they  will 
hasten  that  most  desirable  event,  save  thousands  of 
human  lives,  and  hundreds  of  millions  of  property 
not  yet  destroyed. 

Seriously  hoping  that  all  our  difficulties  may  be 
settled  without  the  loss  of  another  life,  I  subscribe 
myself,  etc., 

U.  S.  GRANT, 

Lieutenant-  General. 
GENERAL  E.  E.  LEE. 

[No.  6.] 

April 9,  1865. 

General : — I  received  your  note  of  this  morning 
on  the  picket-line,  whither  I  had  come  to  meet  you, 
and  ascertain  definitely  what  terms  were  embraced 
in  your  proposal  of  yesterday,  with  reference  to  the 
surrender  of  this  army.  I  now  ask  an  interview  in 
accordance  with  the  offer  contained  in  your  letter  of 
yesterday,  for  that  purpose. 

E.  E.  LEE, 

General. 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT. 


APPENDIX  C  365 

[No.  7.] 

April  9,  1865. 
General  E.  E.  Lee,  Commanding  C.  8.  A.  : 

Your  note  of  this  date  is  but  this  moment, 
11  :50  A.  M.,  received.  In  consequence  of  having 
passed  from  the  Eichmond  and  Lynchburg  road  to 
the  Farmville  and  Lynchburg  road,  I  am,  at  this 
writing,  about  four  miles  west  of  Walker's  Church, 
and  will  push  forward  to  the  front,  for  the  purpose 
of  meeting  you. 

Notice  sent  to  me  on  this  road  where  you  wish  the 
interview  to  take  place  will  meet  me. 

Very  respectfully,  your  obedient  servant, 
U.  S.  GRANT, 

Lieutenant-  General. 

[No.  8.] 
Appomattox  Court  House,  Va., 

April  9,  1865. 

General: — In  accordance  with  the  substance  of 
my  letter  to  you  of  the  8th  instant,  I  propose  to 
receive  the  surrender  of  the  Army  of  Northern  Vir 
ginia  on  the  following  terms,  to  wit :  Eolls  of  all 
the  officers  and  men  to  be  made  in  duplicate,  one 
copy  to  be  given  to  an  officer  to  be  designated  by 
me,  the  other  to  be  retained  by  such  officer  or  of 
ficers  as  you  may  designate.  The  officers  to  give 
their  individual  paroles  not  to  take  up  arms  against 
the  Government  of  the  United  States  until  properly 
exchanged  ;  and  each  company  or  regimental  com 
mander  sign  a  like  parole  for  the  men  of  their  com 
mands.  The  arms,  artillery,  and  public  property 
to  be  parked  and  stacked,  and  turned  over  to  the 
officers  appointed  by  me  to  receive  them.  This 
will  not  embrace  the  side-arms  of  the  officers  nor 
the  private  horses  or  baggage.  This  done,  each  of 
ficer  and  man  will  be  allowed  to  return  to  his  home, 


366  APPENDIX  C 

not  to  be  disturbed  by  United  States  authority  so 
long  as  they  observe  their  paroles,  and  the  laws  in 
force  where  they  may  reside. 

U.  S.  GRANT, 

Lieutenant-  General. 
GENERAL  E.  E.  LEE. 

[No.  9.] 
Headquarters  Army  of  Northern  Virginia, 

April  9,  1865. 

General : — I  have  received  your  letter  of  this  date, 
containing  the  terms  of  the  surrender  of  the  Army 
of  Northern  Virginia  as  proposed  by  you.  As  they 
are  substantially  the  same  as  those  expressed  in 
your  letter  of  the  8th  instant,  they  are  accepted. 
I  will  proceed  to  designate  the  proper  officers  to 
carry  the  stipulations  into  effect. 

E.  E.  LEE, 
General. 
LIEUTENANT-GENERAL  U.  S.  GRANT. 


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under  the  Constitution.     (Volumes  Viand  VII),  1899-1913. 

SCHURZ,  CARL.     Reminiscences,  1909. 
SHERIDAN,  PHILIP  H.     Personal  Memoirs,  1888. 

*  SHERMAN,  WILLIAM  T.    Personal  Memoirs.    (4th  Edition),  1891. 

SWINTON,  WILLIAM.     Campaigns  of  the  Army  of  the  Potomac, 
1866. 

THORNDIKE,  RACHEL  SHERMAN.    The  Sherman  Letters,  Edited 
by,  1894. 

WELLES,  GIDEON.    The  Diary  of,  1911. 

WHITE,  HORACE.     The  Life  of  Lyman  Trumbull,  1913. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY  369 

WILLIAMS,  CHARLES  RICHARD.    The  Life  of  Rutherford  Birchard 
Hayes,  1914. 

WILSON,  JAMES  GRANT.     General  Grant's  Letters  to  a  Friend, 
1 86 1  to  1880,  Edited  by,  1897. 

WILSON,  JAMES  HARRISON.     Under  the  Old  Flag,  1914. 
WISE,  JOHN  S.     The  End  of  an  Era,  1899. 
•WISTER,  OWEN.     Ulysses  S.  Grant  (Beacon  Biographies),  1909. 

YOUNG,  JOHN  RUSSELL.     Around  the  World  with  General  Grant 
1879. 

*  The  works  which  are  starred  are  of  the  greatest  importance. 


INDEX 


ADAMS,  CHARLES  FRANCIS,  on 
Geneva  tribunal,  301  ;  in 
Liberal  movement,  309. 

Alabama  Claims,  statement  of, 
299;  the  Joint  High  Com 
mission,  300 ;  the  Geneva 
arbitration,  301. 

Amendment,  Fifteenth,  adopted, 
306. 

Amendment,  Fourteenth,  pro 
posed,  286. 

Ammen,  Daniel,  boyhood  with 
Grant,  26. 

Appomattox,  operations  at,  261- 
264  ;  surrender  at,  268. 

BEAUREGARD,  G.  P.  T.,  at 
Pittsburg  Landing,  138-146; 
opposes  Butler,  231. 

Belmont,  battle  of,  115-116. 

Big  Black,  battle  of,  176. 

Bismarck,  Otto  von,  entertains 
Grant,  319. 

Blaine,  James  G.,  comment  on 
Cabinet,  297;  leadership,  321. 

Bragg,  Braxton,  succeeds  Beau- 
regard,  151;  invasion  of 
Kentucky,  155  ;  campaign  of 
Chickamauga,  191-194;  Bat 
tle  of  Missionary  Ridge,  200- 
204. 

Brown,  B.  Gratz,  in  Civil  War, 
106. 

Buchanan,  Robert  C.,  at  Fort 
Humboldt,  74. 

Buckner,  Simon  B.,  befriends 
Grant,  78  ;  at  Fort  Donelson, 
123;  surrenders,  129;  rein 


forces  Bragg,  192;  visits 
Grant,  333. 

Buell,  Don  Carlos,  commands 
Army  of  the  Ohio,  1 20 ;  en 
ters  Nashville,  132;  at  Pitts- 
burg  Landing,  146-147. 

Burnside,  Ambrose  E.,  at 
Knoxville,  198;  relieved  by 
Sherman,  205 ;  commands 
Ninth  Corps,  220;  relieved 
of  command,  245. 

Butler,  Benjamin  F.,  commands 
The  Army  of  the  James,  220  ; 
advance  up  Peninsula,  231  ; 
mistakes  of,  236-237  ;  quar 
rel  with  Smith,  239  ;  fails  at 
Fort  Fisher,  253. 

CAMERON,  J.  DONALD,  in  Cab 
inet,  298 ;  supports  third 
term  movement,  321. 

Cedar  Creek,  battle  of,  248- 
249. 

Champion's     Hill,     battle    of, 

'75- 
Chattanooga,  capture  of,    191  ; 

description  of,  199. 
Chickamauga,  battle  of,  193. 
City  Point,  Grant  at,  253. 
Civil  service,  in  Grant's  admin 
istration,  308. 
Civil  War,  influence  on  youth, 

12;    causes  of,   88-94;  area 

of,  109. 
Clemens,  Samuel  L.,  friendship 

for  Grant,  332. 
Cold   Harbor,   battle   of,   232- 

233- 


INDEX 


371 


Colfax,  Schuyler,  nominated  for 

Vice-Presidency,  292. 
Conkling,      Roscoe,      supports 

Grant  for  third  term,  321. 
Cooke,  Jay,  failure  of,  311. 
Coppee,    Henry,   on  Grant   at 

West  Point,  47. 
Cox,  Jacob  D.,  in  Cabinet,  296- 

297. 

DANA,  CHARLES  A.,  at  Vicks- 
burg,  169  ;  comment  on  Mc- 
Clernand,  180;  comments  on 
Missionary  Ridge,  204-206 ; 
anecdote  of  Grant,  335-336. 

Dana,  Richard  H.,  description 
of  Grant,  215. 

Davis,  Jefferson,  as  Secretary 
of  War,  75  ;  abandons  Rich 
mond,  259. 

Dent,  Frederick  T.,  quarrel 
with  Grant,  45  ;  home  of,  51. 

EADS,  JAMES  B.,  constructs 
gunboats,  117. 

Early,  Jubal  A.,  invades  Valley 
of  Shenandoah,  246 ;  threat 
ens  Washington,  247. 

Eaton,  John,  conversation  with 
Grant,  40  ;  organizes  contra 
bands,  158. 

Electoral  Commission,  decision 
of,  31$. 

Ewell,  Richard  S.,  comment 
on  Grant,  46 ;  in  Mexican 
War,  65  ;  surrenders  at  Sail 
or's  Creek,  260. 

FARRAGUT,  DAVID  G.,  attacks 

Vicksburg,  162. 
Fish,  Hamilton,  as  Secretary  of 

State,    295 ;     settlement     of 

Alabama  claims,  298-302. 
Fish,   James    D.,   president  of 

Marine  National  Bank,  324 ; 


insolvency    of    bank,    326; 

reminiscence  of,  329. 
Five  Forks,  battle  of,  258. 
Foote,  Andrew   H.,  commands 

fleet,  117;  wounded  at  Fort 

Donelson,  126. 
Fort  Donelson,  attack  on,  123- 

129. 
Fort  Henry,  capture  of,   121- 

122. 

Fort  Stedman,  attack  on,  256. 
Fort    Sumter,    firing    on,    94 ; 

raising  of  flag  at,  274. 
Freedmen's    Bureau,   idea    of, 

158;  legislation  on,  285. 
Fremont,  John  C.,  in  command 

of  West,  104 ;  attacks  Price, 

114. 

GALENA,  Grant  at,  84-87 ; 
town  meeting  at,  96 ;  rejoic 
ing  at,  280. 

Garfield,  James  A.,  nominated 
for  President,  323 ;  election 
of,  324. 

Gordon,  John  B.,  at  Appomat- 
tox,  262 ;  conduct  of,  270. 

Grant,  Frederick  D.,  birth,  68 ; 
at  Vicksburg,  181. 

Grant,  Hannah  Simpson,  mar 
riage,  17;  character  of,  20; 
family,  21  ;  farewell  to  son, 

35- 

Grant,  Jesse  Root,  early  life,  16; 
marriage,  17  ;  birth  of  Ulys 
ses  S.,  17;  business  life,  18; 
children  of,  21 ;  writes  Jef 
ferson  Davis,  76;  letters  to, 
81,  108,  117,  118,  153,  213; 
as  postmaster,  309. 

Grant,  Julia  Dent  (Mrs.  Ulysses 
S.),  home  of,  51  ;  engage 
ment,  54 ;  marriage,  67 ; 
children  of,  79 ;  with  Lin 
coln,  275;  on  world-tour, 


372 


INDEX 


318;    affection  of   husband, 

338. 

Grant,Matthew,  career  of,  13-15. 

Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  ancestry  of, 
13-19,  351  ;  family  of,  21  ; 
naming  of,  22  ;  boyhood,  23- 
29 ;  at  West  Point,  36-49 ; 
horsemanship,  42 ;  second 
lieutenant,  50 ;  engagement 
to  Julia  Dent,  54 ;  Palo  Alto 
and  Resaca  de  la  Palma,  56 ; 
Monterey,  58  ;  Cerro  Gordo, 
6 1  ;  Contreras,  62;  Churu- 
busco,  62 ;  Molino  del  Rey, 
63  ;  Chapultepec,  63  ;  life  in 
Mexico,  64-66 ;  marriage, 
67  ;  at  Sackett's  Harbor,  68- 
69  ;  on  Pacific  Coast,  70-77  ; 
resignation  from  army,  75  ; 
at  St.  Louis,  78-84  ;  removes 
to  Galena,  84  ;  presides  over 
union  meeting,  96  ;  in  Adju 
tant's  office,  98;  appointed 
Colonel,  102 ;  first  campaign, 
105  ;  appointed  Brigadier- 
General,  105  ;  in  command 
at  Cairo,  108 ;  seizes  Padu- 
cah,  113;  Battle  of  Belmont, 
115-116;  capture  of  Fort 
Henry,  121-122;  Fort  Don- 
elson,  123-130;  trouble  with 
Halleck,  134-136;  Pittsburg 
Landing,  139—146;  siege 
of  Corinth,  150-152;  luka, 
153;  Corinth,  154;  attacks 
Vicksburg,  163-186;  ap 
pointed  Major-General,  188 ; 
accident  to,  190 ;  in  com 
mand  of  Military  Division  of 
the  Mississippi,  195  ;  Battle 
of  Missionary  Ridge,  200— 
204 ;  comment  of  Motley, 
209  ;  nominated  Lieutenant- 
General,  213  ;  letter  to  Sher 
man,  213;  commissioned, 


214;  plan  of,  218-220;  Bat 
tle  of  Wilderness,  223-225  ; 
Battle  of  Spottsylvania  Court 
House,  226-230;  Battle  of 
North  Anna,  230 ;  Battle  of 
Cold  Harbor,  232-233  ;  criti 
cism  of  campaign,  235-239; 
siege  of  Petersburg,  241- 
245 ;  the  Valley  campaign, 
245-249 ;  break-up  of  Con 
federacy,  252-253  ;  attack  on 
Fort  Stedman,  256;  Battle 
of  Five  Forks,  258 ;  capture 
of  Petersburg,  259;  pursuit 
of  Lee,  260-265  >  surrender 
at  Appomattox,  266-270 ; 
comment  on  campaign,  271 ; 
losses  of,  272  ;  assassination 
of  Lincoln,  275  ;  surrender 
of  Johnston,  277-278 ;  end  of 
war,  279 ;  report  on  South, 
283;  General,  288;  Secre 
tary  of  War,  289 ;  quarrel 
with  Johnson,  289-291  ;  nom 
inated  for  Presidency,  291  ; 
election,  292 ;  inauguration, 
294;  Cabinet  of,  295-298; 
the  Alabama  claims,  299- 
301  ;  San  Domingo  treaty, 
302 ;  reconstruction,  304- 

306  ;  the  Liberal  movement, 

307  ;  reelection  of,  310  ;  veto 
of  Inflation  Bill,  312  ;  polit 
ical  demoralization,  313;  the 
Hayes-Tilden  election,  314- 
316;     on    world-tour,    318- 
320 ;   the    third   term   move 
ment,    321-323;    Grant  and 
Ward,     324-329 ;     relations 
with   Vanderbilt,   330 ;  acci 
dent   to,  331  ;  writes  "  Mem 
oirs,"    332 ;     final    sickness, 
333-334;    characteristics   of, 
335-351;  correspondence 
with  Sherman,  352-355. 


INDEX 


373 


Grant,  Ulysses  S.,  Jr.,  business 
life  in  New  York,  324. 

Greeley,  Horace,  nominated  for 
President,  310;  death  of, 


HALLECK,  HENRY  W.,  com 
mands  at  St.  Louis,  117  ;  de 
mands  increased  authority, 
133;  relieves  Grant,  134; 
attacks  Corinth,  150-151  ;  in 
general  command,  152  ;  com 
ment  on  Vicksburg  campaign, 
1  88;  plan  of  campaign,  207. 

Hamer,  Thomas  L.,  appoints 
Grant  to  West  Point,  33  ;  in 
war  with  Mexico,  57-58. 

Hancock,  Winfield  S.,  com 
mands  Second  Corps,  220; 
attacks  Bloody  Angle,  228- 
229  ;  defeated  for  Presidency, 

324. 
Hayes,   Rutherford    B.,   nomi 

nated  for  Presidency,  314. 
Hoar,  E.  Rockwood,  in  Cabi 

net,  296-297. 
Holmes,  Oliver  Wendell,  com 

ment  on  Grant,  279. 
Hooker,      Joseph,      reinforces 

Army   of    the    Cumberland, 

195  ;  at   Lookout   Mountain, 

20  1  -202. 
Howard,  Oliver   O.,  comment 

on  Grant,  346. 
Humphreys,  Andrew  A.,  com 

mands  Second  Corps,  257. 
Hunter,    David,    in    Missouri, 

1  14  ;    threatens    Lynchburg, 

233. 

INFLATION  BILL,  veto  of,  312. 

JACKSON,  capture  of,  175. 
Johnson,  Andrew,  meets  Grant, 
196;  character  of,  276;  on 


reconstruction,  281-287  ;  ve 
toes  Freedmen's  Bureau  Bill, 
285  ;  "  swing  round  the  cir 
cle,"  287;  quarrel  with  Grant, 
289-291  ;  at  Grant's  inau 
guration,  294. 

Johnson,  Walter,  recollections 
of,  327-329- 

Johnston,  Albert  Sidney,  com 
mands  in  Tennessee,  120; 
reinforces  Fort  Donelson, 
123;  at  Pittsburg  Landing, 
138-144;  killed,  144. 

Johnston,  Joseph  E.,in  Mexico, 
65;  at  Jackson,  174;  at 
tempts  to  relieve  Vicksburg, 
179;  in  command  of  West, 
206;  surrender  of,  277. 

Juarez,  opposes  Maximilian, 
280. 

KU-KLUX  KLAN,  depredations 
of,  306. 

LEE,  ROBERT  E.,  in  Mexico, 
65 ;  organization  of  army, 
221  ;  condition  of  army,  252 ; 
made  Commander-in-Chief, 
254;  at  Appomattox,  262- 
269;  protected  by  Grant,  283 ; 
comment  on  Grant,  345 ; 
Grant's  comment  on,  347. 

Liberal  Republican,  organiza 
tion  of  party,  307. 

Li  Hung  Chang,  entertains 
Grant,  319. 

Lincoln,  Abraham,  elected 
President,  92;  appoints 
Grant  B  r  i  ga  d  i  e  r-General, 
105 ;  comments  on  Grant, 
149,  169;  search  for  a  gen 
eral,  210 ;  nominates  Grant 
for  Lieutenant-General,  213; 
commissions  Grant,  214 ; 
trust  in  Grant,  218;  renomi- 


374 


INDEX 


nation  of,  238  ;  reelection  of, 
249  ;  assassination  of,  275. 

Logan,  John  A.,  addresses  sol 
diers,  102;  at  Belmont,  116; 
supports  third  term  move 
ment,  321  ;  at  Champion 
Hill,  349- 

Longstreet,  James,  observes 
Grant's  courting,  51  ;  rein 
forces  Bragg,  192  ;  at  Chick- 
amauga,  193  ;  besieges  Knox- 
ville,  198. 

Lookout  Mountain,  battle  of, 
201— 202  ;  comment  on,  345. 

Lowell,  James  Russell,  comment 
on  Grant,  308. 

MAXIMILIAN,  proclaimed  Em 
peror  of  Mexico,  280;  exe 
cution  of,  281. 

Maysville  Seminary,  attended 
by  Grant,  26-27. 

McClellan,  George  B.,  in  Mex 
ico,  65  ;  as  surveyor,  7 1 ; 
Grant's  application  to,  101  ; 
starts  Peninsular  Campaign, 
136;  Grant's  comment  on, 

343- 

McClernand,  John  A.,  ad 
dresses  soldiers,  102 ;  at  Bel 
mont,  116;  at  Fort  Donel- 
son,  127  ;  at  Pittsburg  Land- 
ing»  139~I46;  at  Arkansas 
Post,  1 66;  relieved  of  com 
mand,  181. 

McPherson,  James  B.,  on  staff, 
131  ;  in  Vicksburg  campaign, 
l67-J75  J  Grant  and  Sher 
man  on,  352-354. 

Meade,  George  Gordon,  com 
ment  on  Grant,  216;  reor 
ganizes  Army  of  Potomac, 
219 ;  relations  with  Grant, 
238. 

Mexico,  causes  of  war  with,  52- 


54;  Taylor's  battles  in,  55- 
60 ;  Scott's  invasion  of,  6o~ 
64  ;  treaty  with,  66  ;  French 
invasion  of,  238 ;  Maximil 
ian,  Emperor  of,  280. 

Missionary  Ridge,  battle  of, 
200-204. 

Monocacy,  battle  of,  246. 

Motley,  John  Lothrop,  comment 
on  Grant,  209. 


NAPOLEON  III,  supports  Maxi 
milian,  280;  overthrown,  303. 

Nashville,  battle  of,  250. 

Newman,  John  P.,  conversation 
with  Grant,  341. 

North  Anna  River,  battle  of, 
230. 

Norton,  Charles  Eliot,  comment 
on  Grant,  307. 

ORD,  EDWARD  O.  C.,  at  luka, 
154;  succeeds  McClernand, 
179  ;  at  Appomattox,  260. 

PARKE,   JOHN    G.,  commands 

Ninth  Corps,  245. 
Pemberton,    John    C.,   at   Cha- 

pultepec,  64 ;    commands  at 

Vicksburg,    161  ;  surrenders, 

185. 
Petersburg,  importance  of,  241 ; 

siege   of,   241-245 ;    capture 

of,  259. 
Pittsburg    Landing,   battle    of, 

139-146 ;  controversies  over, 

147-149. 
Pleasants,      Henry,      suggests 

mine  at  Petersburg,  243. 
Polk,  James  K.,  declares  war 

on  Mexico,  55. 

Polk,  Leonidas,  invades  Ken 
tucky,  in;  at  Belmont,  1 16; 

abandons  Columbus,  132. 


INDEX 


375 


Porter,  David  D.,  at  Vicksburg, 

168-172. 
Porter,  Fitz  John,  Grant  writes 

upon,  331. 
Porter,  Horace,  describes  Lee's 

surrender,  269  ;  anecdote  of 

Grant,  340. 

Port  Gibson,  battle  of,  173. 
Port     Hudson,    surrender     of, 

1 88, 
Prentiss,    B.    M.,    in    Missouri, 

106;   at  Pittsburg  Landing, 

139. 

RAWLINS,  JOHN  A.,  advocates 
Union,  96 ;  letter  to  Grant, 
182-183 ;  as  Secretary  of 
War,  296. 

Raymond,  battle  of,  174. 

Reconstruction,  problem  of, 
281  ;  legislation  of,  285-287  ; 
during  Grant's  administra 
tion,  305-307. 

Reid,  Whitelaw,  on  Grant,  148. 

Richmond,  evacuation  of,  259. 

Root,   Elihu,  examines   Grant, 

329- 

Rosecrans,  William  S.,  at  luka, 
153  ;  at  Corinth,  154;  march 
on  Chattanooga,  191-192; 
Chickamauga,  193;  relieved 
of  command,  195. 

SACKETT'S  HARBOR,  Grant  at, 
68-69. 

Sailor's  Creek,  battle  of,  260. 

San  Domingo,  treaty  for  an 
nexation  of,  302. 

Schaff,  Morris,  description  of 
Grant,  217  ;  description  of 
Lee's  retreat,  259. 

Schurz,  Carl,  report  of,  283 ; 
leads  Liberals,  309. 

Scott,  Thomas  A.,  investigates 
graft,  1 1 8. 


Scott,  Winfield,  visit   to  West 

Point,  41,  47  ;  in  war  with 

Mexico,  60-67. 
Sedgwick,     John,     commands 

Sixth     Corps,    220;     killed, 

228. 
Seward,  William  H.,  assault  on, 

275- 

Seymour,  Horatio,  nominated 
for  Presidency,  292. 

Sheridan,  Philip  H.,  at  Mis 
sionary  Ridge,  200-204 ; 
commands  cavalry,  220 ;  cav 
alry  raid,  227  ;  in  command 
of  Shenandoah  Valley,  247  ; 
Battle  of  Cedar  Creek,  248  ; 
at  Five  Forks,  257  ;  pursuit 
of  Lee,  260-264 ;  sent  to 
Rio  Grande,  280  ;  comments 
on  Grant,  338-339. 

Sherman,  John,  comment  on 
Grant,  215. 

Sherman,  William  T.,  at  West 
Point,  37 ;  meets  Grant  at 
St.  Louis,  83 ;  comment  on 
secession,  93  ;  at  Smithland, 
130;  at  Pittsburg  Landing, 
137-145 ;  friendship  for 
Grant,  152;  at  Chickasaw, 
165  ;  takes  Jackson,  187  ;  re 
inforces  Chattanooga,  199  ; 
relieves  Knoxville,  205  ;  the 
Meridian  Expedition,  207  ; 
in  command  of  Military  Di 
vision  of  Mississippi,  219  ;  be 
gins  Atlanta  campaign,  221  ; 
captures  Atlanta,  249 ;  sur 
render  of  Johnston,  277  ;  sent 
to  Mexico,  288 ;  comments 
on  Grant,  293,  308,  346 ; 
correspondence  with  Grant, 

352-355- 
Slavery,  extent  of,  88  ;  Grant's 

views  on,  157. 
Smith,    Charles    F.,    at    West 


376 


INDEX 


Point,  39  ;  at  Paducah,  1 14  ; 
at  Fort  Donelson,  128;  suc 
ceeds  Grant,  134. 

Smith,  William  F.,  plan  for  re 
lief  of  Chattanooga,  196 ; 
marches  to  Cold  Harbor, 
232  ;  attacks  Petersburg,  234; 
quarrel  with  Butler,  239. 

Spottsylvania  Court  House,  bat 
tle  of,  226-230. 

Stanton,  Edwin  M.,  meets 
Grant,  195 ;  instructions  to 
Grant,  255  ;  denounces  Sher 
man,  277 ;  suspended  from 
Cabinet,  289. 

Stephens,  Alexander  H.f  on 
Southern  opinion,  92. 

Stevens,  Thaddeus,  on  recon 
struction,  284. 

Stewart,  Alexander  T.,  ineligi 
ble  for  Cabinet,  295. 

Sumner,  Charles,  on  recon 
struction,  284 ;  on  Alabama 
claims,  299 ;  quarrel  with 
Grant,  302  ;  Grant  on,  340. 

TAYLOR,  ZACHARY,  in  war 
with  Mexico,  55-60. 

Thomas,  George  H.,  victory  at 
Cumberland  Gap,  121  ;  at 
Chickamauga,  193;  in  com 
mand  of  The  Army  of  the 
Cumberland,  196 ;  at  Mis 
sionary  Ridge,  200-204 ;  at 
Nashville,  250. 

Tilden,  Samuel  J.,  nominated 
for  Presidency,  314. 

Tilghrnan,  Lloyd,  at  Fort 
Henry,  122. 


VANDERBILT,  WILLIAM  H., 
loan  to  Grant,  326 ;  dis 
charge  of  debt,  330. 

Vicksburg,  importance  of,  1 60  ; 
attacks  on,  161-185 ;  surren 
der  of,  1 86. 

Virginius,  expedition  of,  303. 

WALLACE,  LEW,  at  Fort  Don 
elson,  125 ;  at  Pittsburg  Land 
ing,  144-146 ;  commands  at 
Monocacy,  246. 

Ward,  Ferdinand,  organizes 
Grant  &  Ward,  324;  failure 
of,  326. 

Warren,  Gouverneur  K.,  com 
mands  Fifth  Corps,  220;  at 
Five  Forks,  258. 

Washburne,  Elihu  B.,  Con 
gressman,  96 ;  recommends 
Grant,  106 ;  letters  to,  136, 
157 ;  comment  on  Grant, 
212;  as  Secretary  of  State, 
295. 

Welles,  Gideon,  comment  on 
Grant,  217  ;  criticism  of  cam 
paign,  235  ;  description  of 
rejoicing,  274 ;  criticism  of 
Grant,  290-291. 

West  Point,  spirit  of,  31. 

Wilderness,  battle  of,  223-225. 

Wilson,  James  H.,  comment  on 
campaign,  237. 

YATES,  RICHARD,  employs 
Grant,  98;  appoints  Grant 
Colonel,  102. 

Young,  John  Russell,  on  world- 
tour,  318. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

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on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


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APR  18 1962 


JUN  2  D  1352  F£B  2  0  1967  5  9 


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REC'D 


fe  '67  -2  PM 

LOAN  DEPT.  j 


MAR    9 


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NOV301974 


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•"V 


UNIV^BSJ-r>C.Of  C\LJFORNIA  LIBRARY 


